


Mulder and Scully

by claimingsanctuary (timeschange)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (Temporarily), Alpha Castiel, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Federal Agents, BAMF Castiel, BAMF Dean, Bottom Dean, FBI Agent Castiel, Federal Agent Dean, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Dean, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Phone Sex, Slow Burn, Sparring, Stripper Dean, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Top Castiel, True Mates, Unrequited Love, for a little while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-14 16:52:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 79,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3418295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeschange/pseuds/claimingsanctuary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is an undercover FBI agent working to take down a white collar criminal named Azazel, but Castiel finds himself way out of his depths when the case takes a dangerous turn and Azazel gets involved in an omega trafficking deal. With the help of an OPA agent named Dean, the Bureau and the Omega Protection Agency take down Azazel and his seller, Dick Roman. </p>
<p>As it turns out, that case wasn't the last Castiel would see of Dean Winchester, and it isn't long at all before Castiel finds himself falling in love with the fiery, strong-willed omega.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Castiel approached the club, rolling his shoulders and tilting his head to the side to crack his neck. He barely even cringed anymore at the thumping bass of the overhead club music, well used to it after the constant exposure he’d gotten in the past two weeks. He nodded once at the bouncers, who let him in the second they recognized him as one of Azazel’s guys.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the massive mirror that took up the entire expanse of ceiling in the hollow foyer leading to the dance floor. Everything was in order: his hair slicked back with an obscene amount of gel, the thick black tribal tattoo peeking out from above his tight V-neck and worn leather jacket, the dark scowl fixed firmly on his face. There were other things that were in place, too. Things the mirror couldn’t see. Things like the impossibly small recording device hidden in the pendant around his neck.

He worked his way through the club’s dance floor easily, pushing away the omegas and betas that tried grinding against him. Finally, he slipped behind the bar and entered the back room, following several winding hallways to the club’s basement. He passed several guards as he went, who all nodded at him in recognition and let him pass.

When he reached his destination, he was surprised to see that there were only two people in the spacious lounge. It was void of Azazel’s usual cronies. There was only Azazel, Castiel’s temporary boss, and a scantily clad beta that was perched on Azazel’s lap. Azazel looked up when Castiel came in and smiled. That creepy smile always made Castiel want to shudder all the way down to his toes, but all he did was deepen his scowl.

“Azazel,” he said, glancing over the beta girl with a raised eyebrow.

“Evening, Krushnic. You like her, boy?” Azazel asked in Russian, unceremoniously shoving the girl off his lap. “You can have her; I’m done with her. I’m in the mood for a tight little omega tonight. It’s been way too long since I've had one.”

Azazel stood and stretched. He seemed surprisingly sober, Castiel realized. That only happened when the man had big plans for the evening.

“So did you take care of that FBI bitch that’s been trailing me?”

“She won’t bother you again,” Castiel replied in fluent Russian, giving Azazel a knowing nod.

Azazel broke into a grin. “That’s my boy! Tell me, how did you do it? Arrange for a little ‘accident’? Was there at least a little bit of pain before she bit it?”

“Yes to both,” Castiel bluffed, reminding himself to tell Hannah to lay low until Azazel was behind bars. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to. Hopefully tonight would be the night Azazel would slip up. But then, Castiel had been hoping that since he'd worked his way into Azazel's circle two weeks ago.

“Oh, that’s just _delightful,_ ” Azazel said, approaching Castiel and clapping him on the arm. “Aren’t I just so lucky to have you? Drink?”

Azazel walked over to the minibar and started pouring before Castiel even answered. “No. You know I don’t drink on the job.”

“Yes, yes. You’re no fun. Sit,” he ordered, growing suddenly serious, and pointed at the couch. Castiel moved to obey. Azazel turned to the beta girl and switched to English. “You: out. Now.”

When the beta was gone, Azazel sat on the coffee table across from Castiel, so close his knee bumped Castiel’s when he sat. He had two glasses in his hands, and he offered one of them up to Castiel. Castiel took it with a sigh but didn’t drink it.

“We’re going on a little trip tonight, you and I.”

Castiel was immediately on alert. He didn’t like the barely contained glee in Azazel’s tone, or the way Azazel was looking at him like he was waiting for Castiel to realize something big.

“There’s something I want to buy,” Azazel continued, ignorant to Castiel’s panic.

Castiel didn’t say anything, refusing to take the bait.

“Come now, Krushnic. I feel like I’m talking to myself here. I know you want to ask. You’ve been a very loyal little watch dog for me, haven’t you? I’m glad I found you when I did, but I’m starting to worry about you…do you know how to keep a dog loyal, Krushnic?”

_Shit._ He knew. He definitely knew.

“No. I prefer cats.”

Azazel laughed. “You make me laugh, Victor. I’ll tell you how you make sure a dog stays loyal—“

Castiel really hoped Azazel wasn’t going to say something along the lines of “you beat them into submission.”

If he needed to, he could easily take Azazel out. He’d seen Azazel fight; his fighting style was all brute alpha force. Castiel, on the other hand, used his strength when he needed to but relied more on finesse. Yes, it would be easy for him to take Azazel down.

But then there’s his small army of cronies, waiting just outside. Once he took Azazel down, Castiel would be hard pressed to make it out of the club alive, even with the surveillance van full of backup parked just down the street.

“You keep a dog loyal by treating it well.”

Castiel blinked at him. “What?”

“You heard me. If a dog loves you, it'll protect you until the end. That’s why I’m going to get you a little gift. That thing I’m going to buy tonight? I’m going to buy you one, too. Then every time you enjoy your little gift, you’re going to remember who gave it to you and you’re going to know that nobody else will treat you as good as I’m treating you.”

“What is it?” Castiel asked warily.

Azazel smiled again, that same smile that made Castiel want to pull his gun and wipe the unsettling expression off the man’s face. “I’m not going to tell you; you’ll have to wait and see.”

“Can you at least tell me _where_ we’re going?” Castiel asked, mostly for the benefit of the FBI agents listening through the microchip in his necklace.

Azazel thought it over. “We’re paying Dick Roman a visit.”

“Dick Roman,” Castiel frowned, faking confusion. “I’m not familiar.”

He was, according to his cover, supposed to be fresh off the boat from Russia. Obviously, every American citizen knew who Dick Roman was.

“Hmm. I guess you wouldn’t be. Billionaire business man. Head of Richard Roman Enterprises. Aspiring politician. He’s in the news a lot.”

Cas nodded, running what he knows about Azazel against what he knows about Roman and trying to figure out what a sleazy Russian embezzler would want with an upstanding American businessman. Unless Roman isn’t as upstanding as everything thinks.

“I can see you trying to put it together, Krushnic, but you’re never going to guess. Now come on, Roman’s expecting us and I’ve had this appointment for half a year.”

 

On the way out of the club, Castiel spotted Inias across the street, leaning casually against a pole. He nodded once when Castiel met his eye, letting him know the team was ready to follow him and Azazel.

It made Castiel relax a little.

In the car, Azazel looked over at Castiel thoughtfully. “How do you feel about omegas?”

Castiel frowned at the unexpected question.  “The same as any alpha, I suppose.”

“I only ask because I’ve never seen you with one before.”

“That’s because we’re not all _exhibitionists_ ,” Castiel snorted, giving Azazel a pointed look.

Azazel laughed. “So I like people knowing how often I get lucky! Sue me. God, I almost feel sorry for whatever omega falls into your trap, Krushnic. I imagine your bloodlust carries into the bedroom, no? You’re probably into all sorts of horrific shit.”

Castiel smirked and looked out the window, nothing in his expression betraying how sick he felt at the very thought.

 

Azazel’s driver took them to a large warehouse outside of town. It was completely unremarkable from the outside, but once they entered the building—escorted by two heavily armed alphas that came out to meet them—it looked more like an office building downtown than a cheap warehouse in the middle of nowhere. A short, black haired beta man waited for them in the foyer.

“Welcome, Mr. Azazel. My name is Edgar. If you—“

“Roman said he’d meet with me personally,” Azazel growled in his thick Russian accent, cutting the man off.

“He will. Before I can let you go any further, however, I’ll need you to remove your weapons.”

Azazel squinted at Edgar. “Fine.”

“And your men will need to stay here.”

Azazel scowled so deeply Castiel wouldn’t be surprised if his face stuck that way.

“We can’t have too many untrained alphas in the back room at once, you understand,” Edgar explained, “If any of your men are betas, they’re welcome to join you.”

“I guess that makes sense. He comes with, though,” Azazel nodded at Castiel, “I’ll be buying two tonight, one for myself and one for him.”

Castiel frowned, still trying to figure out what the product was.

“Fine. Then he has to give up his weapons, too,” Edgar said, watching Castiel. Castiel watched him right back.

“We have to hand over our weapons,” Azazel said to Castiel in Russian. Castiel nodded.

They both handed over their guns. Edgar raised an eyebrow after the fifth hidden knife was added to the steadily growing pile of weapons. “We’re Russian,” Azazel said with a shrug.

 

Once he was sure _all_ of their weapons had been removed, Edgar led them past the security gate and beyond the foyer. Rather than lead them into the main floor of the warehouse, he led them down a back hallway, into an elevator, and up to the second floor. When the elevator doors opened, they revealed a lavish penthouse office.

A tall, thin man with a sickly sweet smile Castiel immediately recognized as Dick Roman stood to greet them. There was a large, burly alpha with a short beard standing at the back of the room, near another door. Castiel assessed him, immediately on alert when he took in the alpha’s size and brevity, but something about him was gentle, subdued. He was wearing some sort of uniform, like a waiter at a restaurant.

Edgar joined the alpha in the back, waiting for further instruction from Dick Roman. Dick approached Castiel and Azazel.

“Mr. Azazel, I assume. Pleasure to finally meet you,” Roman smiled, shaking Azazel’s hand. He turned to Castiel. “And you are?”

“Victor Krushnic, my right hand man. Also looking to buy.”

“And why can’t Mr. Krushnic answer for himself?” Dick asked, something in his smile going cold.

“Doesn’t speak a word of English.”

“Ah,” Roman said, shaking Castiel’s hand. His smile relaxed again. “I take it that means he’ll want a Russian product? The selection may be more limited—“

Azazel chuckled. “I don’t think he’ll mind. It’s not like a language barrier is the end of the world, in this case,” he said. He and Roman shared a secret smile.

“No, I suppose not,” Roman agreed. He turned to the alpha standing in the back. “Benny, bring us some drinks. What will you have?”

“Bourbon for me, nothing for Krushnic.”

The waiter, Benny, disappeared with a nod.

“I’m glad you chose Roman Enterprises, Azazel. We take much pride in the high quality of our products.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Benny returned with two drinks, handing one to Azazel and another to Roman. “Thank you, Benny. You’re dismissed,” Roman said, waving a hand at the alpha. Benny bowed and disappeared back into what Castiel assumed was the kitchen.

“So, I was wondering,” Azazel began, “do we get to test the merchandise before we buy it?”

“Absolutely not. I take pride in my merchandise being ‘never-before-used’, if you understand my meaning.”

Azazel grinned. “I understand perfectly.”

Castiel hated this. He hated everything about this. He hated that he had no idea what was going on, for one thing. Also, if things went south, there was no way his team would be able to get up here, past all those guards. He didn’t know _what_ Roman’s business was, but he had a feeling it was way bigger than anything he’d dealt with before, and he had no idea what to do.

What was Roman selling? It was obviously something illegal. What would the implications be if Castiel were to go along with this? Was there an opportunity to arrest _both_ of them? No, Castiel didn’t have nearly enough backup for that.

“I do have some paper work I’d like to go over before you can select your purchase. Some questions of security and secrecy—am I correct in assuming you’ll be paying for both yourself and your friend _,_ Mr. Azazel?”

Azazel nodded.

“Good. Then no need to concern Mr. Krushnic with all of this. The less people that know the… _particulars_ of my business, the less people I have to worry about keeping an eye on.”

“Of course. Discretion I understand.” He switched to Russian. “Krushnic, go wait back in the kitchen. The grown-ups have some business to attend to. I’ll call you if I need you.”

Castiel nodded, casting a last wary look at Roman, and headed to the door the waiter had disappeared through. He pushed it open, finding it led into an empty, industrial kitchen. Empty except for an omega standing _very_ near the door, who yelped and jumped back when it suddenly swung open.

“I wasn’t…um, eavesdropping or anything. I was just…”

Castiel didn’t care. He didn’t even hear the man. It was like he _had_ suddenly forgotten English, because he didn’t comprehend a word that was said.

The omega was _beautiful._ The most beautiful omega Castiel had ever seen.

He was tall, an inch or two taller than Castiel, and muscular for his gender. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and had Castiel’s brain been able to function at all, he might have realized _why;_ as it was, he was distracted by the toned stomach and hard planes that were exposed to his gaze.

The omega had short, sandy brown hair that was spiked up at the tips. He had the big, wide, doe eyes that are characteristic to omegas, and they were the most beautiful shade of jade green Castiel had ever seen, framed by thick lashes. Then there was the freckles, just barely visible against his tanned skin, that framed those beautiful eyes and were scattered across that endearingly crooked nose. And his lips. _His lips._ Perfect- full, pink, and bowed- like every other part of him.

Best of all was his scent. It wasn’t too sweet, wasn’t too strong. There was a certain tang to it, something sharp that Castiel couldn’t quite identify. It was something familiar. Something constant. Something steady. And it was undoubtedly the scent of an _unmated_ omega.

A growl tore up past Castiel’s lips before he could stop it. It had the omega taking a wary step backward, further into the kitchen, but that wasn’t right. He should have been stepping _closer._ Toward Castiel.

Castiel stepped forward, following the omega.

“Are we gonna have a problem here, pal?” the omega asked. God, his voice. It was low for an omega’s, and rough, but there was a lot about this green eyed angel that didn’t seem typical to his gender. His height, for example. The boldness of his gaze.

The question had Castiel stopping short, snapping out of his hormone-induced haze. The omega’s tone was defensive, his body tense. There was fear there, too. Wariness. Nervousness.

Fear of Castiel.

The omega glanced over his shoulder, toward another door at the other end of the kitchen. With the movement, the light caught on something around the omega’s neck. Castiel had been too distracted by the omega himself to actually notice it before, but now that he did he felt the blood drain from his face.

It was a collar.

A thick, metal, inescapable collar with “Roman Enterprises” etched into the front. Suddenly, more of Azazel and Roman’s comments made sense. Suddenly, Castiel knew what Azazel was buying from Roman.

Dick Roman was selling omegas.


	2. Chapter 2

Castiel gaped at the collar long enough to make the omega even more nervous, but Castiel was too busy trying to contain his anger to care. He didn’t want to frighten the omega any more, terrified as he probably already was.

Omega trafficking is absolutely _sick._ It’sillegal and severely punishable, as it should be. It’s just…it's just _so wrong._ It’s bad— _primitive—_ enough that you’d occasionally hear of an omega being forcefully claimed on the street, but the fact that here was a _whole organization_ dedicated to abducting innocent omegas and _selling them_ to, apparently, as in Azazel’s case,  _vicious criminals_ was absurd.

“You—“ Castiel reached out numbly, meaning just to touch the collar, but he hadn’t anticipated the omega’s reaction.

With a growl, the omega sprung before Castiel was even close enough to touch, twisting Castiel’s arm and pulling him forward to compromise the alpha’s balance. He did this while simultaneously sweeping a leg to kick Castiel’s legs out from underneath him.

When Castiel hit the ground, the omega turned to escape out the back door.

“Wait!” Castiel hissed, leaping at the omega and grabbing his ankle before he could get away. The omega, caught mid-stride, hit the ground hard. He was trying to kick away Castiel’s hand before he’d even caught his breath. Castiel pulled him closer by the ankle, the omega sliding easily across the tile floor.

Apparently the omega was letting Castiel manhandle him, just waiting for a better angle, because the second he was close enough he suddenly flipped over and slammed his free knee up into Castiel’s chin. The impact made Castiel bite down on his tongue. Castiel cursed, letting go of the omega’s ankle.

The omega was springing to his feet in no time, but Castiel was just as quick.

Before the alpha could get a word out, say he was just trying to help, the omega spun, aiming a kick at Castiel’s groin. Castiel caught the foot in time. With his grip, he twisted and tried to throw the omega off balance. It didn't work. The omega spun with the twist and extended the spin into a flip, avoiding injury while simultaneously freeing his foot.

He took a step back, just to right his balance, but then he was jumping back in to deal a surprisingly strong uppercut to Castiel’s already throbbing jaw before stepping out of Castiel’s reach once more. He was fast, much faster than Castiel was. Castiel dropped into the defensive, his mind finally catching up to the fact that this omega he’d meant to comfort was _completely_ kicking his ass.

The omega tried dealing three quick blows in rapid succession, but Castiel blocked each of them.

This wasn’t basic self-defense. This omega was _trained_ and highly skilled, probably able to take down any alpha that crossed his path. He was lethal and determined, even more so because he felt Castiel had backed him into a corner. He was mixing so many advanced martial techniques Castiel was having trouble keeping up. But he was a trained fighter too, and he had strength on his side.

He charged the omega, catching him by the waist and tackling them both to the ground. The omega grunted in pain on the impact, immediately struggling to get out from under Castiel. Before he could succeed, Castiel straddled his legs and pinned his hands on either side of his head.

The omega fought to free his hands, of course he did, but not even the strongest _alphas_ stood a chance against Castiel. The omega was faster, but Castiel was undoubtedly stronger.

“ _Just listen to me,_ ” Castiel hissed, amazed Azazel and Roman hadn’t already heard them.

The omega hesitated, but just for a second. “They said you couldn’t speak English,” he grumbled, even while trying to knock Castiel off him. “ _Get off me!_ ”

Castiel frowned. What was such a clearly trained and dangerous omega doing in a place like this? There was a reasonable explanation, an idea that occurred to Castiel—maybe the omega was in the same position he was in. He decided to take a chance.

“My _cover_ can’t speak English,” Castiel corrected, ignoring the omega’s request. “It’s okay, you’re safe. I’m with the FBI.”

“Oh, am I? Telling me _I’m safe_ when you’ve got me pinned to the floor isn’t all that—“ The omega froze, looking up at Castiel with wide eyes. God, he was beautiful, the way he was pinned, writhing beneath Castiel…This was so _not the time_ for Castiel to be getting sidetracked like this. “The FBI,” the omega repeated.

“Yes.”

Castiel would get in _big_ trouble for blowing his cover later, he knew. Hannah was probably out in the surveillance van now, listening to Castiel ruin everything while scowling at their equipment and yelling at Inias.

To his surprise, the omega struggled even harder than before. “What the _hell_ are you doing here? You’re going to fuck everything up!”

Castiel released the omega’s wrists and sat back on his heels, shocked. “You’re _upset_ that I’m here?”

The omega sat up as well, glaring at Castiel. “This is _our_ case! What the hell makes you think you can go after Roman when we’ve been working for _years_ to—“

“I’m not after Roman. I’m here with Azazel. You’re…? I knew you were here for a reason!”

“OPA,” the omega sighed. Castiel nodded, though he didn’t like the thought that the Omega Protection Agency would leave an unmated omega Agent alone in such a risky cover, an incredible fighter or not. There were so many things that could go wrong. “This Azazel guy, he’s here to purchase an omega?” The Agent seemed to perk up at the thought.

“That’s a good thing?”

The omega nodded. “All the evidence we have against Roman so far is circumstantial at best. But if we catch him in the act of selling—“

“You can’t! If you arrest Roman tonight all of the FBI’s work with Azazel will be—“

“If you’re talking about the Azazel I think you’re talking about, he’s just a cheap, white collar embezzler. Do you seriously think that’s more important than innocent people being _sold as sex slaves?_ ” the omega asked, working himself up over an argument he'd clearly had before.

Castiel’s argument died on his lips. Chief Raphael would _kill him_ later for this, he knew, but the omega was right. “No, of course not. You’re right; I’m sorry. What can I do to help?”

“I…” the omega floundered. He gaped at Castiel. “Seriously?”

“Of course,” Castiel frowned, tilting his head to one side.

“Oh. It’s just,” the omega rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, frowning when his hand hit the collar, “you lot are usually more stubborn—“

The waiter Benny interrupted them, coming in through the back door. When he saw Castiel, he pulled a gun seemingly from out of thin air and pointed it at the FBI agent.

“Wait, Benny! He’s FBI!”

“Great,” Benny groaned, lowering his gun. “Just what we needed. And why is he on your lap?”

“Oh! Sorry,” Castiel apologized, scrambling to get off the omega’s lap.

“’S’ okay. Sorry I attacked you in the first place,” the omega chuckled, “You’re probably gonna have a helluva bruise on your jaw, man.”

“You told him he needs to back off, right?” Benny asked the omega. He turned on Castiel. “You need to back off, brother. This ain’t the Bureau’s jurisdiction.”

“He’s here with Roman’s new client. Embezzler or something, right?”

Castiel nodded. “Among other things.”

“See? It’s just a weird coincidence our cases overlapped. And you’re sure Azazel’s here to purchase, right FBI?”

Castiel snorted, offering his hand out for the omega to shake. “Castiel Novak.”

“Don’t like me calling you FBI, huh?” the omega grinned, “Dean Winchester. And this is my partner, Benny Lafitte.”

Castiel tilted his head to one side, examining the omega. Dean. “I’ve heard your name. And yes, I’m sure Azazel’s here to buy.”

“Awesome. We have to let Bobby know we’re going to need backup—tonight’s the night. Novak, since you’re scratching our backs, I’ll scratch yours right back. Do you know about the Omega Trafficking Act of 2001?”

“I’m familiar,” Castiel said, frowning in confusion.

“Section F says that if an alpha is caught either selling _or_ buying an omega, you—“

“We can search and seize his assets without needing a warrant,” Castiel breathed, realizing what Dean was getting at.

Dean seemed surprised, but he nodded. “Yeah. The rule’s there so omegas that might’ve been bought or sold in the past can be found, but if you’re searching Azazel’s account and you just _happen_ to notice some illegal activity, then you can get him on that, too.”

Castiel smiled. “So what do we have to do?”

“We have to get ‘em right when they’re signin’ the contracts,” Benny frowned. “Then we call in backup, arrest ‘em, save the omegas being held downstairs, and then maybe have a drink and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. But it’s hard, seeing as neither of us are in there. We’re both bugged, but our backup can’t enter the property unless they _hear_ the transaction goin’ down or if they think Dean’s…you know, _in trouble._ ”

Dean huffed, crossing his arms and scowling.

“Yes, sir,” they heard just from the other side of the door leading to Roman’s office. It was their only warning before Edgar came in, but it gave them enough time to jump apart and look natural. He pointed at Castiel and then back out at Roman’s office. Castiel nodded in understanding, following Edgar out. He glanced over his shoulder at Dean and Benny before the door swung shut.

 “We don’t _have_ to mate with them though, do we?” Azazel was asking when Castiel came back out, as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to him before.

Dick shrugged. “Hey, this is just a business transaction. Once the product is in your hands and I have my money, what you do with your personal property is none of my business.”

“Good. Krushnic,” Azazel called when he spotted Castiel, “We’re going downstairs to see the wares. It’s time for us to pick out our omegas,” he winked.

An idea came to Castiel. He glanced back at the door to the kitchen, then smirked at Azazel. “You should see the omega Roman’s hiding in the kitchen. Stunning.”

Azazel raised an eyebrow, as intrigued as Castiel hoped he’d be. The man's curiosity was insatiable, and Castiel was glad he could finally work that to his advantage. “Hey Roman, Victor says you’ve got a pretty little number hiding back in the kitchen.”

Dick chuckled. “I can only assume you mean Dean. The only concern I have there is that he’s new, and he’s not quite... _housetrained_ yet. Still has a little too much fight in him.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“He’s gorgeous, to be sure, but he’ll probably be less… _willing_ than the omegas that have been here for a while,” Roman clarified.

“But that just makes it more fun!” Azazel said, his grin completely predatory. “Let me see him.”

“You’re the customer,” Roman shrugged, resigned to Azazel's whim. “Edgar, tell Dean to come out here.”

When Edgar returned with a timid and frightened-looking Dean, Azazel whistled. “Good eye, Krushnic!” Azazel said, clapping Castiel on the back. Switching to English, he beckoned to Dean. “Come here.”

Dean glanced nervously at Roman before obeying. He was very convincing, keeping his gaze down and lowering his head submissively. If Castiel hadn’t just been speaking with him, he never would have guessed how fiery Dean could be.

“Beautiful,” Azazel murmured in Russian. Then, in English, “Turn around.”

Dean pursed his lips, looking annoyed. He turned slowly, cringing when Azazel’s eyes dropped to examine his ass. Castiel wasn’t proud, but his eyes dropped as well. He couldn’t _not_ look, just a little. For his cover. It would have been odd if he hadn’t looked.

“Turn back around,” Azazel said. He grabbed Dean’s chin, making the omega look at him. Dean maintained eye contact for longer than was considered appropriate. Azazel chuckled, tangling a hand in Dean’s hair and forcing the omega’s head back. He leaned in, scenting Dean’s neck. Dean cringed, instinctually trying to pull away, and Castiel readied himself to leap at Azazel if he needed to. Azazel growled, holding Dean tighter. “You don’t struggle, do you understand?”

Dean nodded as well as he could, expression blank. Fortunately, Azazel released him.

Azazel stayed where he was, studying Dean’s face, but he addressed Castiel in Russian. “You sure know how to call them, Victor,” Azazel chuckled. “I like this one. I can tell he’s got just the right amount of fight in him. I suppose you wanted him for yourself?”

Castiel stepped up behind Azazel, meeting Dean’s gaze over the alpha’s shoulder, and smirked. Dean immediately averted his eyes.

“Yes, but I would obviously yield if you wanted him, and how could you not? Just _look_ at him.”

“You’re right, and I do want him. I’m glad I’m not going to have to fight you for him; you know I would win. Still, maybe we should look at the others—“

“Do you think any of them can compare to _him?_ ” Castiel asked, lowering his voice. He spoke directly into Azazel’s ear, a snake charmer charming the snake. “Have you _ever_ seen such a beautiful omega? Imagine having _him_ in your bed. Imagine getting him to submit to you, and only you. Imagine what people will say, when they see how stunning _your_ omega is.”

Azazel growled. “Yes. You’re right; I want him.”

“You can have him, can’t you? Just tell Roman that this is the omega you want to buy.”

Azazel turned, looking Castiel up in down. “I will. And do you know what I think, Krushnic? If you keep serving me well, I think I’ll let you have a go when I get bored of him.” He turned to Roman, switching back to English. “I’ve decided. This is the omega I want to buy.”

Castiel and Dean made eye contact, knowing the small army of OPA and FBI agents waiting outside heard exactly what they needed to hear to catch both Roman _and_ Azazel.

“Excellent. I have the contracts drawn up right here. I just have to enter Dean’s information, then we can go look for an omega for Mr. Krushnic—“

There were sounds coming from downstairs, shouts and gunfire. Roman growled, cutting off mid-sentence, and swept the papers off the table angrily. He turned on Azazel.

“If you led the cops here, I swear—“

Azazel, also hearing the shots, snarled at Roman’s accusation. “Are you insane? Why would I risk _myself_ by talking to the cops?”

“Immunity? Or maybe they just followed you here!”

“I’ve been doing this a _long time,_ Roman,” Azazel growled, lowering his voice. “I know how to avoid a tail. Maybe it was one of _your_ guys, eh? With all the guys you’ve got working here, it’d be easy for one of them to tip off the feds without you knowing.”

Roman studied Azazel carefully, finally relenting. “I believe you had nothing to do with this. Come on, there’s a back exit. Hopefully we can have you home and me on a plane to Mexico before they’ve even finished ransacking this place.”

Roman and Azazel’s escape plot was blown to pieces in a sudden explosion of activity. Benny burst through the kitchen door, gun raised and two OPA Agents in full gear on his heels. Dean leapt into action, twisting Dick’s arm behind his back and dropping him to the ground. Azazel grabbed Castiel’s arm, meaning to pull him the other way toward the elevator, but Castiel turned and kneed Azazel hard in the gut, spun him, and slammed him against the wall.

“You little—“

“You have a right to remain silent,” Castiel said in perfect English, no trace of the accent he’d been speaking with for the past two weeks, while one of the OPA agents handed him a pair of handcuffs. Castiel secured them around Azazel’s wrists while reading the rest of his rights.

Castiel shoved the stunned criminal into the OPA agent’s waiting arms, relieved he was finally finished with this case. Roman was already being led downstairs, Edgar close behind him.

“Is that it, then?” Castiel asked Dean and Benny. Dean shook his head.

“You can leave, or whatever, but I want to go help with the omegas,” Dean said.

“No, I’ll come with,” Castiel nodded, following Dean to the stairs. They started descending together.

“Sure. Hey, what were you saying to Azazel earlier? In Russian?”

Castiel tried not to let the omega see his blush. “I was trying to convince him to pick you.”

“And what exactly were you _saying_?” Dean asked with a knowing smirk. Castiel clearly wasn't fooling him.

“I’d rather not tell you.”

“That’s what I thought,” Dean laughed.

There were OPA Agents everywhere, swarming around the building like bees in a hive. Castiel saw the occasional FBI logo among the mass of uniforms, and suddenly Hannah was standing in front of him, holding out an FBI vest. “So one of these OPA guys doesn’t arrest you,” she explained.

Castiel took it gratefully, shrugging off his leather jacket to replace it with the vest. He started Velcroing it up. In the meantime, Hannah turned her cold stare on Dean, appraising him. “Agent Winchester, I take it. It’s a pleasure. I’m glad our two agencies could work together to catch these two highly dangerous criminals.”

Dean raised an eyebrow at Hannah’s stiff speech, but shook her hand and smiled. “I agree.”

“Is Raphael mad?” Castiel asked. He and Dean continued walking, Hannah falling into step behind them.

“How could he be? The two of you handed him Azazel on a silver platter. He may give you grief for going against the plan, though.”

“Sounds like an understanding guy,” Dean snorted.

They were walking past rows of empty cages. Human-sized cages, Castiel realized in horror. Most of them were empty by this point.

“Have all of the omegas been cleared out?” Dean asked a passing OPA Agent.

“Most of them have, sir. There’s still a couple in the back, but I think we’ve got it covered.”

Dean nodded. He told Castiel he was going to go help before jogging off at the same time Hannah excused herself to talk with Inias. Castiel was left standing by himself, frowning at the cages, when he heard it. There was a scratching and whimpering sound, coming from somewhere behind him. He followed the sound and it led him to a heavy metal door. It was barred shut on the outside, but when Castiel lifted the heavy metal bar and tried twisting the handle, he found it locked from the inside as well.

He knocked on the door, calling out “FBI!”

He thought he heard a relieved “Oh thank God,” from the other side of the door, and suddenly there was a click. The door didn’t open at first. Castiel pulled out the gun Hannah had given him along with the vest, holding it in one hand while cautiously turning the handle and pushing the door open with the other.

Castiel froze. That wasn’t a threat; that was the unmistakable scent of omega in heat. There was a small omega girl sitting near the door, looking up at Castiel with wide eyes. She was tiny, and young— barely even legal. _If_ she even was legal. Honestly, Castiel wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a minor. She wore white scrubs and the same collar Dean had been wearing.

She squeaked nervously when she realized he was an alpha, then scrambled away from him when she saw the gun in his hand.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Castiel said, holding up a placating hand while slowly putting away the gun. “You’re safe now; I’m here to help. I’m with the FBI.”

Her scent didn’t bother him. He’d always had great self-control. Plus he’d been trained for this kind of situation, and had lots of experience dealing with his adoptive omega sister’s heats through the years to be affected by this anymore.

Especially because she reminded him so much of Anna.

Even worse, the poor thing was _terrified_. She tried to hide it, but she couldn’t keep it from bleeding into her scent.

“But you’re an alpha,” she observed, still watching Castiel warily. Her heat didn’t seem to be distracting her in that moment. It must’ve been a fight or flight response, her body finding the imminent threat more important than reproductive urges. It wouldn’t last, though, and Castiel wanted to get her somewhere safer before her heat took over. “And I’m in heat.”

“I can smell that,” Cas smiled, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. It was difficult, seeing as he was still mostly dressed as a Russian thug. He approached cautiously and knelt in front of her, resting his hands on his thighs. “My top priority is getting you to safety. What’s your name?”

“Marin.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Marin. I’m Castiel.”

“Weird name,” Marin said, actually smiling a little.

“I’ve been told. Do you have family nearby?”

“We’re still in Chicago, right? Then yeah. My parents and my big brother. God, they’re probably worried _sick_.”

“Do you know how long you’ve been here?” Castiel asked, trying not to make it seem like he was rushing the omega.

“I don’t know, a month? They don’t really—it seems like longer…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. Marin, you’ll be able to see them again very soon, but you have to trust me. I won’t let anyone out there hurt you.”

“Okay,” she finally whispered, “I trust you.”

Castiel smiled. He lifted himself onto his knees, reaching out to Marin. “May I?” he asked before he got too close.

After searching his face hesitantly, she nodded. All Castiel did was reach around and unclasp the collar she wore. “You don’t have to wear that anymore. Hey, Dean,” Castiel began, looking over his shoulder. The OPA Agent, who’d been lurking in the doorway, jumped guiltily at being caught listening in. “Do you have a cellphone?”

Dean nodded, fishing a phone out of his pocket and handing it to Castiel. At some point, he’d changed into an outfit more suitable for a federal agent than a captive omega. He'd lost the collar, for one thing. 

Castiel pressed the phone into Marin’s palm. “Call your family; have them come pick you up. Dean and I can wait outside while you talk to them.”

Marin thanked them and Dean gave her the address.

“That was impressive,” Dean said in the hallway, “When I smelled your scent mixed with an omega’s in heat, I was worried we were gonna have to finish that fight after all.”

“As I recall, we _did_ finish it,” Castiel said, side-eyeing Dean with a slight smirk. “I believe I won.”

“Okay. _No way._ In a _fair_ fight, I’d totally—“

“A _fair_ fight? How was that not fair?”

Dean laughed, throwing his head back, and Castiel couldn’t help but smile as well. “For one, I was wearing a friggin’ collar. Those things restrict movement.”

Castiel snorted.

“And two, I was trying to be quiet, so there’s that.”

“You’re right, Dean. That fight was completely unfair.”

“Damn right, it was. Someday we’re gonna have a rematch, then you’ll see,” Dean teased.

Castiel just shook his head, chuckling and trying not to think about the way his heart soared at the implication Dean might want to see him again.

Marin nervously joined them, gravitating immediately to Castiel’s side after giving Dean his phone back. “My brother’s coming. He’ll be here in like ten minutes.”

“Let’s wait for him outside then, shall we?” Dean asked, watching Castiel warily. He was just being cautious, Castiel knew; Marin’s scent was growing stronger, and she didn’t seem to have any reservations about clinging to Castiel’s arm.

The three of them made their way outside, Dean and Castiel walking protectively on either side of Marin. Castiel thought they were going to have a problem with an alpha FBI agent that lost control when he caught Marin’s scent, but there were enough agents on hand to control him immediately. The OPA alphas were able to control themselves, having trained specifically for this kind of situation. It was their whole job, after all.

Nevertheless, Marin clung to Castiel’s arm as if her life depended on it until they were outside and away from the police cars, ambulances, and federal agents.

“You got him, right? Roman?” Marin asked.

“We got him. He’s gonna be in jail for the rest of his life,” Dean promised, giving Castiel a small smile.

 While they waited for Marin's brother, another OPA agent approached and took down all of Marin's personal information, including her brother's information, for follow up questions.

“That’s my brother’s car!” Marin cried a minute later, finally releasing Castiel’s arm to run towards the car. She made it a couple of feet before turning around, running back to Castiel and pulling him into a tight hug. It took Castiel a moment to realize what was happening and hug her back. His return hug was little more than an awkward pat on the back. Then she was moving on to Dean, who looked as surprised at the sudden affection as Castiel felt.

“Thank you. Both of you.”

“Go on,” Dean said, ruffling her hair, “Your brother’s waiting.”

Marin gave them a final smile before running to meet her brother, who was just getting into the car.

“She’ll be alright,” Dean elbowed Castiel playfully.

“I’m sure she will be. I like this—helping. It’s very rewarding.”

“You don’t help with the FBI?” Dean asked, looking at Marin. They both watched Marin’s brother get out of the car and run to his sister, pulling her into a tight hug. Marin eventually waved back at Dean and Castiel before getting into her brother’s car.

“I’m in the White Collar crime unit. The victims are usually millionaires, museums, or governments.”

“Ah. Yeah, I can see how this might be different. Well, if you’re lookin’ to help people, Novak, the OPA could always use an agent like you. Think about it.” With a final pat on the shoulder, Dean went to join several other OPA agents, Benny among them.

Hannah approached Castiel.

“Do you recall when I said Raphael wasn’t angry with you?” she began, “I’m afraid I may have spoken too soon. He wants to see you at the office.”

“But—“ Castiel glanced over at where Dean was talking and laughing with Benny. Hannah followed his gaze, raising an eyebrow.

“He said he wants to speak with you _now.”_

Castiel sighed, knowing he’d be in even more trouble if he disobeyed Raphael’s direct order. Besides, it’s not like he would have had a chance with someone like Dean.

“Fine, I’ll go.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Weekly update" thing I mentioned after the last chapter starts *now*


	3. Chapter 3

Dean glanced at his watch. He still had an hour before he was supposed to meet Benny at the office, but if this freaking line kept moving as slowly as it was, he wouldn’t get his coffee _ever_.

He was at his favorite coffee shop, just down the street from the office. Normally it wasn’t so crowded, but then, _normally_ he stopped by around six, right after his morning workout. Apparently, more people like coffee in the afternoon. Who knew.

Some alpha got in line behind him, scenting the air not-so-subtly and taking a step closer to Dean. Great. Dean knew it was just a matter of time before the guy said something. Pretty much everything about the guy's appearance  _screamed "_ entitled knothead," from his stupid polo sweater to his khaki shorts. As the line slowly moved, the alpha kept scooting closer to Dean.

There were only two people in front of Dean in line when the guy finally said something. Dean sighed. He knew it was coming, he had just hoped he'd be able to make a quick getaway when he did.

“So, sweetheart—“

“Do I come here often? No. And I’m not…” Dean glanced toward the door, someone sitting at a table near it catching his notice. “Interested.”

Was that…? No way. Dean smirked, a backup plan forming in his head, and turned his attention back to the asshole in front of him. The guy looked seriously pissed off, unable to believe Dean just said what he thought he said.

“What the hell did you just say to me? You’re not ' _interested'_?”

Yep. So he _was_ that kind of alpha, then.

“I’d be careful what you say next, man. You see that alpha over there? By the door? I’m here with him and lemme tell ya, he gets _real_ violent if anyone even _looks_ at me the wrong way. Don’t look now—it’ll just make him madder—but he’s looking over here. I really suggest you back off.”

“Can I help whoever’s next?” the barista asked. Dean gave the alpha a final smirk before stepping up to the counter and placing his order.

Once he had his coffee, he approached the booth by the window. “Mind if I join you?”

Clear, bright blue eyes lifted to his, widening when they landed on Dean. Dean slid into the booth across from the alpha without waiting for a response.

“Hello, Dean.”

Dean smiled. “Hey, Castiel. Sorry for barging in on you like this. There was this alpha behind me in line and I could tell he was about to make a scene and I’m really just _not_ in the mood to deal with that today. Then I saw you, so I said I was already here with you…I mean, I could’ve taken him, obviously, but I didn’t want the hassle and they’ll usually back off if you just say you’re with—“

“I understand, and I don’t mind,” Castiel said seriously. He leaned back in his seat, studying Dean with a curious smile. “It sounds like you have a lot of experience warding off unwanted alphas.”

“Uh, _yeah_. Have you _seen_ me?” Dean joked. "I'm adorable."

Castiel smiled, something Dean was beginning to realize was a rare occurrence. “I have, as a matter of fact. And you are.”

“Alphas are just linin’ up to get with me,” he winked. “You look a lot different when you’re not all Mr. Big, Scary, Russian Mafioso Guy, by the way.”

He really did. Dean was giving Cas the up-down before remembering that the guy happened to be an alpha, and Dean did _not_ do alphas. Literally or figuratively. It was easy to forget what Cas was—he didn’t act like most alphas. There was no posturing, no brovado. Even Benny, Dean's partner at the OPA, held the classic alpha demeanor sometimes. If Dean couldn't smell Cas, he never would've guessed the guy was an alpha.

Agent Novak was wearing a suit, looking more like a flustered tax accountant than a federal agent, his tie askew and a rumpled trench coat on the seat beside him. There was no tattoo on his neck, no stud in his ear, no scowl on his face—though he was kind of rocking the “resting bitch face” look. His hair was…kind of adorable, actually. It was messy and it stuck up in several directions, much different than the disgusting, greased-back look he'd been sporting during the Azazel/Roman case. It made Dean want to reach across the table to try and flatten it.

Cas looked completely exhausted, and it was easy to guess why. The table was _covered_ in a dozen stacks of boring looking federal paperwork, some of it finished but most of it still untouched. Dean picked up a sheet, glancing over it.

“Jesus, Cas. Is this still shit from the Azazel case? That was two weeks ago!”

“Some of it is,” Cas sighed, running a hand through his hair and messing it up further. “Some of it’s from other cases. Raphael is punishing me for improvising on the Azazel case by assigning an impossible amount of paperwork. I’m sort of 'grounded,' if you will—not allowed out on the field—indefinitely.”

“But we caught him! Azazel’s facing a life sentence!”

Castiel shrugged. “That doesn’t matter to Raphael. I disobeyed. It’s that simple.”

“That’s messed up.”

“I agree. But while the workload is considerably heavier now, I’m well used to being the office’s paperwork lackey. The Azazel case was the first actual case I’ve been on in years, and Raphael only agreed to let me work it because I’m the only one that speaks fluent enough Russian for the cover.”

“Why not? You were awesome!"

"Well thank you, Dean, but I'm afraid Raphael doesn't agree. He and I disagree on many issues- basic morality being one of them. I'm the only one who stands up to him, and that has earned me my low position in the office."

"Huh” Dean said, “I’m getting the vibe that you don’t like your job much.”

“No, it’s…” Cas trailed off, trying to find the right words. “It’s important work, and I don’t mind the nature of it. It’s the atmosphere I’m not particularly fond of. My coworkers are rude and rather abrasive. The kindest among them is Hannah, but even she’s rather—“

“Stiff?” Dean suggested.

Cas smiled. “That’s a good way of putting it. Still, I’m not going to waste my breath complaining. I can handle a cold work environment.”

“ _Or,_ ” Dean began, a huge smile spreading across his face, “You could come work for the OPA! I meant what I said the other day, Cas. We could really use someone like you, and we’ve even got an opening right now. And I guarantee we’re like, a _thousand_ times friendlier than your FBI buddies.”

“They’re not my buddies.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I _got that,_ Cas. I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh. Of course," Cas said with a sheepish smile, "That sounds great, Dean, but I don’t—“

“Seriously, man, Bobby can call the FBI and pull some strings, get you transferred over, no problem. OPA perks- we take top priority. I mean, I think you’re still going to have to apply and everything, but I wouldn’t be too worried about that.”

“Dean, that would be… _wonderful_.”

Dean grinned. “Yeah. The OPA’s great. I’m not gonna lie, though. You see _a lot_ of fucked up shit, and sometimes it really sucks, but for the most part all the people you help and the lives you save make up for it.”

Cas nodded eagerly. “I joined the FBI because I wanted to _help_ , but filing paperwork isn’t exactly the rewarding work I was hoping for.”

“Well yeah, give me your card and I’ll have Bobby contact you about the application.”

“I appreciate it. What about you, Dean? What got you into this business?”

“Me? Uh,” Dean leaned back in his seat, thinking. “There was an OPA agent I looked up to as a kid— when I’d first presented— and I decided I wanted to do what he was doing. Helping people. So same as you, I guess,” Dean shrugged.

“I see.” There was more to it than Dean was saying, Castiel could tell. He was good at his job, and he was good at reading people, and Dean clearly had secrets. But Castiel wouldn’t push, because Dean was also clearly the kind of man that didn’t like being pushed into sharing.

But if he got the job with the OPA, he’d be working with Dean. He’d have time to get to know the beautiful omega better. Of course, it's not like he was just thinking about taking the job because Dean was beautiful and fit and smelled like sex personified. That would be crazy.

Okay, so Castiel would admit he certainly wants to get to know Dean better, but that’s only because Dean genuinely seems like an interesting individual and Castiel enjoys studying interesting individuals. That’s all there is to it.

“ _Soo,_ ” Dean said slowly, drumming his fingers on the table.

“My apologies. Was I staring? I do that, I’ve been told. With everyone, I mean—not just you, of course,” Castiel stammered. Dean raised an eyebrow. “Sorry. Again. My, uh, ‘people skills’ are kind of ‘rusty,’ according to my brother. My job doesn’t allow for much of a social life.”

“I get that. Seriously, _all_ of my friends are work friends. My friend Charlie and I have movie nights sometimes, but then other than that I only ever get to spend time with them on the clock.”

Castiel nodded. “I have my brother and sister. At work there’s Hannah, but we never ‘hang out’ outside of work.”

“If you only have your family and Hannah, no wonder your people skills are so rusty, dude,” Dean laughed. Castiel found himself smiling along whenever Dean laughed- even, apparently, when Dean was laughing at him.

“I’m not denying it,” Castiel agreed, shrugging good-naturedly, “My sister’s introverted and my brother is…well, for lack of a better work, _bizarre_ , so I’m certainly not picking up any social skills from them. What about you? Do you have any family?”

Dean smiled at Castiel’s awkward small talk. “Uh, not really,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “I mean, Bobby and his family are _like_ family to me, have been for a long time, but no actual family, no.”

They talked for a little while, mostly about superficial things. Castiel learned that Dean was born in Kansas, not Illinois, then spent time in South Dakota before moving to Chicago with Bobby. Castiel, on the other hand, grew up nearby, went to college nearby, and basically spent all of his life in the area.

Eventually Dean had to leave, but he left promising to have Bobby call Castiel some time that week.

 

.

.

Dean was as good as his word. Not three days had passed before Castiel was getting a call from the director of Chicago’s OPA branch himself, asking him to come in for an interview.

Apart from Hannah and Inias, Castiel didn’t say anything to his coworkers about possibly leaving. Again, apart from Hannah and Inias, nobody would even care.

Hannah gave him a look when he told her, as if she could see right through him, and asked Castiel if the sudden change had anything to do with the agent he’d met on the Azazel case, but Castiel denied it.

He knew, though, that Dean was probably a big part of it. Yes, Castiel did dislike his job with the FBI. Yes, his boss did hate him. Yes, he wanted to do something where he could help people more directly, especially people that may not be able to help themselves. Everything he’d told Dean was true, but he wouldn’t have even _considered_ changing his entire career in a matter of days if it weren’t for the fascinating, exuberant green-eyed omega he hoped to work closely with.

He didn’t admit that to Hannah, though. He barely admitted it to himself, because it was insane. He’d only known Dean for two weeks—he’d only seen him twice—and he was already switching jobs, dreaming of green eyes and freckles, and _actually considering_ mating. If you had asked him before the Azazel case, Castiel would have told you that mating wasn’t on the table for him.

Dean shouldn’t have been able to affect him so thoroughly so quickly.

Yet there he was, several days later, walking into the lobby of the OPA building for an interview. The building, located in downtown Chicago, looked like a typical, boring office building from the outside. The inside was polished, sleek, and brightly lit, and everything looked new.

The main foyer was high-ceilinged and lofty, an information desk and a sign detailing the locations of the different offices on the other end of the room. Castiel studied the sign as he approached, realizing the OPA must share the building with several other government offices.

He smiled politely at the beta behind the desk and followed the signs to the fifth floor, which was dedicated entirely to the OPA. He stepped out of the elevator and walked down a short hallway that ended with two large glass doors with “Omega Protection Agency” written on them. The doors led to a wide, open floor with neat rows of desks leading to the back wall, where steps led down to a sub level with offices.

Castiel stopped at the desk closest to the door, where a red-headed beta girl sat typing furiously. Her desk was cluttered with all sorts of figurines and characters Castiel didn’t recognize. He asked her which office was Director Singer’s, and she cheerily pointed him in the right direction.

 .

When Castiel reached Singer’s office, he found the door already open. Director Singer, a gruff, middle-aged, bearded beta, looked up and huffed, leaning back in his seat to study Castiel.

“You must be Cas,” he said, using Dean’s nickname for Castiel. Deciding not to correct him, Castiel nodded. “Come in, an’ close the door behind you. You bring a resumé?”

“Yes, sir,” Cas said, fishing it out of his bag and passing it across Singer’s desk.

“You can drop the ‘sir’ crap. This ain’t the FBI,” he chuckled. “Everyone here just calls me Bobby. So,” Bobby folded his hands on the desk and looked Castiel up and down. “I don’t know if Dean told ya, but this job was supposed to be for internal applicants only. You know, someone from some other OPA branch was supposed to come to fill the position.”

“Oh,” Castiel frowned, wondering why Bobby would have him come in just to tell him that. “I didn’t realize.”

“I wasn’t finished. It was supposed to be internal, but I trust Dean’s judgment and if Dean thinks you’ve got some potential, well, then I believe him. It helps that you’re already FBI, but I’m gonna tell you from the get-go: the OPA and the FBI are completely different in a lotta ways. There was this Supreme Court case, Sullivan vs. California, in ’91 that basically said—“

“The basic safety and wellness of omega persons takes precedence over Constitutional rights of privacy,” Castiel interrupted with a nod. Seeing Bobby’s surprised look, he explained, “I minored in Omega rights in college. It’s, um, on the resume.”

“Well good for you, but if you interrupt me again you’ll be outta here before you even know what hit you,” Bobby said. Castiel, used to taking things literally, belatedly realized that Bobby was half-joking. He didn’t plan on interrupting again, though.

“My apologies.”

Bobby nodded, taking the time to glance over the resume. “Why choose that minor?”

“Oh, um,” Castiel paused, thinking it over. “My sister—adopted—was treated unfairly by the majority of my family once she’d presented as an omega. I guess it’s just always been a personal point of interest. But if I’m being honest with myself, it was probably also because it annoyed my high-and-mighty, ‘alphas are superior’ mother.”

Bobby chuckled. “I’ve got an uncle like that. I figured that would be the reason, or at least something similar. In my experience, I’ve found alphas only go for that kinda major to pick up omegas— an’ you don’t really look like that type— or because of personal experiences with family members. So what’s making you want to leave the FBI?”

“I don’t mean to _leave_ the FBI so much as  _join_ the OPA.”

They talked for a while. Bobby went through the typical interview questions, as well as ones more tailored to Castiel’s work with the FBI. He finished up the interview by asking several highly invasive questions. Castiel, a fairly private person, bristled at the nature of the questions, even if he understood why they were being asked. There were questions like “Have you ever been with an omega? How many and in what capacity?”, “In what situations have you been around a non-relative omega in heat?”, and even “Are your ruts regular and predictable?”

They were all things that might interfere with Castiel’s ability to perform his job, he knew. The last one, for example—it would be disastrous if an alpha went into rut unexpectedly while on a case.

Bobby was a hard man to read; it took Castiel a while to realize the gruff persona was just Bobby, not his reaction to Castiel. That being said, Cas thought the interview went well and felt good about his chances.

 .

He was right. Two days later, he received another Bobby, telling him he’d made it to the next round of the application process. He was to come in the following Monday morning, for several “Wellness and Restraint” tests, whatever that meant.

“Oh,” Bobby added just before hanging up, “An’ don’t eat for at least twelve hours before you come in.”

There was a click and the line went dead, leaving Cas to frown down at his phone in confusion.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Disclaimer. I don't know anything about the interview process you go through when you're switching from one federal agency to another. Hell, I don't even know if you can. I just went with it. It's fanfiction. As much as I appreciate criticisms of my inaccuracy, I'm not gonna go back and change it.
> 
> So I'm going to have to ask you to take a page from my man Coleridge's book and suspend your disbelief, yeah? Cool. Good. Enjoy.

When Castiel returned to the OPA offices, fasting and wearing workout clothes at Bobby’s request, he was immediately directed to an unfamiliar part of the building and was ushered into a room that looked suspiciously like a doctor’s office. The woman that escorted him left him alone in the room with no explanation aside from a terse “the doctor will be with you in a few minutes.”

Castiel stood in the middle of the office and looked around. Like any doctor’s office, there was a table, a computer, a sink, a rack of magazines, and an extra chair. The only thing that seemed out of place and caused Castiel some concern was a large tank in the corner of the room, behind the examining table, that seemed to be hooked up to the computer by dozens of wires.

Castiel sat in the chair, avoiding the metal table until the doctor arrived.

 

He was entertaining himself by playing Flappy Bird (and damn Gabriel for downloading the game onto his phone in the first place) when there was finally a knock on the door. Following the knock, the doctor entered the room.

He was a blonde man—beta, judging by his scent—with an apologetic smile and an obscenely low V-neck visible under his lab coat.

“Agent Novak,” he began in an English accent, offering his hand out for Castiel to shake, “My apologies about the wait. Have a seat on the table, would you? Has anyone explained to you what’s going to happen today?”

“No,” Cas frowned, watching the doctor as he moved toward the tank. He flipped a switch on the side of the machine and it whirred into life. The doctor laughed when he noticed Castiel’s expression.

“No need to look so sour. It’s not going to hurt; you have my word. But you _are_ fasting, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Well then, let me explain what's going to happen. First of all, I’m Dr. Balthazar. I’m testing you today to see how well you react to various omega scents—just making sure you’ll be able to control yourself in some nasty situations. As I’m sure you can imagine, you might be exposed to some gruesome sights with this job. Understand?”

Castiel nodded, wondering how Balthazar was planning on testing that. He doubted the man was planning on parading a line of omegas past him. “Why the fasting?”

Balthazar smirked. “Good question. Alphas tend to have less control—well, even _less than usual,_ which is really saying something—when they’re hungry. We figure if you can control yourself in this condition, you’ll be just fine out on the field. Why don’t you slip out of your coat, Novak, and I’ll finish setting everything up.”

Castiel did as he was told, hanging his trench coat on the hook by the door, then returned to the table. In the meantime the doctor bustled around, talking as he went. “After this, someone will come to escort you to the gym for fitness testing—sit ups, running, hell if I know what that part entails. That’s not my job. But I _do_ know you’re going to have to spar with one of our agents—just so Singer can get an idea of where you’re at. We’ll get you some food before all that, no worries. Any questions?”

Castiel eyed the tank warily, but shook his head, figuring he’d find out what it was for soon enough.

“Good boy,” Balthazar continued, “Now, don’t be upset if you're not perfect—obviously, these are exaggerated circumstances, what with you being hungry and this being pure, undiluted and intentionally enhanced omega scent. Do try to take it seriously, though. I’m just going to reach around you here and secure this mask to your face…”

The mask was like the kind you’d find at the dentist—fitting over Castiel’s nose but leaving his mouth free. A tube wrapped around either side of his head, connecting the mask and the tank. “What—“

Balthazar chuckled. “It’s going to feed the scent to you directly. It won’t harm you in any way, but fair warning—if you react badly to any of the scents, if I think you’re about to go into a rage—all it takes is the press of a button for me to change the scent into a powerful sedative. And suffice to say, you won’t get the job if I have to resort to that.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry,” Castiel promised with a small smile.

The doctor clipped something to Castiel’s index finger and a second later his heart rate appeared on one of the computer’s two monitors. Balthazar watched it for a little while, then typed something into the keyboard. “Alright. Breathe through your nose; I’m going to introduce the first omega’s scent now. Don’t worry; we’re starting off easy.”

Cas nodded, jumping a little when the scent suddenly flooded his nostrils. He sniffed curiously. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn there was an omega with them in the room, or one had perhaps only just left.

It did smell good, but not in a sexually appealing way. More like how a flower smells sweet, but you wouldn’t want to eat one.

“Not a bad start,” Balthazar said, watching Castiel’s heart rate on the monitor closely. “But that’s nothing to what’s coming.”

The scent suddenly doubled in strength. If his career wasn’t depending on his self control in that moment, he might’ve found it funny how steadily his heart rate began to climb. Instead, he just scowled at the monitor.

His expression didn’t go unnoticed by Balthazar. “That’s completely normal,” Balthazar assured him with a laugh. “It’s a purely instinctual reaction you couldn’t have helped if you’d wanted to. It’s not until you go above _that_ line—“ he pointed at the screen, “—that I’d even classify it as a reaction. And if you get to that red zone at the top of the chart, that’s when I’d consider using the sedative.”

Even as he spoke, Castiel’s heart rate began normalizing.

“What’s 8 + 6?” Balthazar asked suddenly.

“What?”

“8 + 6. What is it?”

“Um. 14,” the alpha answered, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

“Just checking,” Balthazar jotted something down on a chart beside him. “I’m changing the scent now.”

The scent faded, giving Castiel some time to breathe clean air and get ready for the next scent. Just as he’d begun to relax, the new scent was introduced.

Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Castiel sat up straighter on the table and his hand flew up to tug at the mask. It was _too sweet,_ but also weirdly stale, like an elderly woman doused in ancient perfume. It had opposite the intended effect. Castiel just wanted it to go away.

“Well this one’s clearly not doing anything for you, huh?” Balthazar laughed. “No sense lingering on it then. And don’t touch the mask.”

“Sorry.”

Fortunately for Castiel’s sanity, Balthazar cleared the scent out with a click of his mouse, but he immediately replaced it with a new one. This one was pleasant, even more than the first one, but there was something noticeably _synthetic_ about it.

“How do you harness these scents?” Castiel asked curiously, “Do you create them?”

“Damn it. This one’s too fake, isn’t it? I knew it wasn’t ready to be added to the queue yet. To answer your question, yes. They’re synthetic. Though technically _,_ they’re all _based off_ real omegas. I take the chemical composition of an omega’s scent and then sort of…simplify and strengthen it, if you will, so you’re essentially left with the basic archetypes of various omega scents,” Balthazar finished, looking proud of himself.

“Impressive,” Castiel admitted.

“Why, thank you. I'm rather proud of my little system. But enough chit-chat. The fact that you’re able to ask me questions tells me I should move on to the next scent.”

The next scent caught Castiel by surprise, and from the first intake of breath it did more than the others combined. His heart rate spiked, practically doubling in a matter of seconds, and went well over the “reaction” line Balthazar had pointed out earlier and got dangerously close to the “red zone.”

Balthazar just laughed. “Now _that one_ did something.”

Castiel scowled at him. After its initial spike, his heart rate seemed to go down. “It just caught me by surprise,” he grumbled.

“I’m sure it did. But you really do have incredible self-control, has anyone ever told you that?”

“Once or twice.”

There was something familiar about this scent. There was a sort of tangy, subtly sweet quality to it that had Castiel eagerly breathing through his nose.

Balthazar asked him another math question then listed some items and had Cas repeat the list back to him.

“Alright. The next scent is going to be _very_ strong; do try not to go into an alpha rage and kill me.”

Castiel’s eyebrows shot up when the scent changed. “Wow.” It was the smell of an omega in heat, and Balthazar was right—it was _strong._ Marin’s had at least been diluted with the smells of the warehouse, and all of the other agents, and of _Dean._

At the thought of Dean, with the anonymous omega in heat scent burning his nostrils, his heart rate spiked again. But it actually managed to stay below the reaction line.

Balthazar asked another memory question, and then, “What was the name of Leo’s character in the Titanic?”

“Um. I have no idea.”

“Aha! So you’re _not_ perfect!”

Cas narrowed his eyes at the beta. “I wouldn’t be able to answer even if I wasn’t directly inhaling an omega’s heatscent. I’ve never seen it.”

“Oh. Then believe me, you’re fortunate. The only thing worse than that god-awful movie is the god-awful Celine Dion song that goes with it. Who was the fourth president of the United States?”

“…James Madison?”

“Maybe. I don’t know the answer, to be honest. I just wanted to see if you could come up with an answer that sounded reasonable.”

Balthazar asked a few more simple questions, then changed the scent again—once more an omega in heat, this one very sweet-smelling—and asked a few final questions.

Finally, Balthazar shut off the machine and lifted the mask from Castiel’s face.

“Congratulations, you passed with flying colors. My only concern is…well. Just wondering—and this is completely unrelated—have you met Dean yet?”

Castiel’s eys widened. “What? Why?”

“So you _have._ Remember how I base the scents off real omegas?” Balthazar asked, chuckling, “The one you really reacted to was Dean’s. Well, it was based off Dean's natural scent. There are differences, but it is similar enough to be concerning.”

Cas could feel his face heating up. “He’s not going to—“

“Find out about this? Lucky for you, no. Neither will Singer. Of course, Bobby will get the test results, but he won’t know _which_ scent you reacted to. Still, I don’t think I have to tell you to be careful around Dean,” Balthazar warned, more serious than he had been all morning. “His scent was the only one you reacted to, and that was just a simplified imitation—“

“I understand.”

“I’m glad. On that note, it was great to meet you, Cassie. I’m going to go find someone to get you some food and escort you to the gym.”

.

His escort was a friendly alpha woman that said she worked translations and encryptions for the OPA. She was delighted to find out that he spoke Russian, and they chatted for a while about the translation work Castiel had done for the FBI.

She took him to a closed-off exercise room where an OPA official in a lab coat tested pretty much every element of his physical fitness imaginable. By the end, Castiel was practically dripping in sweat, and then he was reminded that he still had to fight with someone.

From there, the woman led Castiel into a much larger, more open gymnasium. There was a wide variety of equipment—everything from treadmills to hand weights to punching bags—lining the walls, but a thick mat took up the majority of the open floor.

Sitting cross-legged on the mat, looking disinterestedly at his phone, was none other than Dean Winchester. The omega looked up when the door clicked shut, grinning and waving at Cas. The alpha waved shyly back. Bobby was standing a ways away from Dean with several others by his side.

“Novak,” Bobby grunted when he noticed the alpha. ”You’re here early. Dean, would you wrap his hands while we finish up over here?”

Dean sighed dramatically but hopped up, grabbing the tape and approaching Cas with an excited smile. “I guess it’s time for our rematch, huh?”

Cas smiled as Dean took one of his hands to start wrapping it. “So it would seem. Have you already fought someone today?” he asked, studying Dean’s hands.

“Yeah. Another guy was in this morning, going for the same job as you.”

“Oh?”

Dean glanced slyly at Bobby before continuing, taking a small step closer and lowering his voice. “Don’t worry; there’s no way in hell he’s gonna get it over you. So get this, this guy comes in and Bobby tells him he’s gonna spar with an agent, and he’s all on board. Then he finds out it’s _me_ he’s gonna be sparring with, and he _laughs._ The dick thought Bobby was _joking._ Then he called me _sweetheart._ Like dude, you’re applying for the OPA, but you’re a friggin’ sexist, condescending knothead? What the hell?”

“I’m sure you very quickly put him in his place.”

Cas was rewarded with that beautiful, bright smile and the accompanying full-body laugh.

“The fight didn’t even last five minutes. You should’ve heard him whine after I kicked his ass into next week. How’d you do with Balthazar’s tests?”

Castiel blushed, remembering how drastically he had reacted to Dean’s scent. And _oh,_ Balthazar’s little machine hadn’t done Dean’s scent justice. It was completely intoxicating, standing so close to the omega. “I think it went well; Balthazar said I passed with ‘flying colors.’”

Bobby cut in. “I hate to interrupt whatever the two of you are whispering about over there, but I’ve got other shit to do today.”

Cas apologized while Dean just rolled his eyes.

Bobby explained that he just wanted to get a sense of Castiel’s training, and he was doing so by pitting him against the best fighter in the OPA. It was adorable, the way Dean subconsciously preened at the compliment, and while Bobby rolled his eyes, nobody commented on it.

Bobby outlined some rules before stepping back and leaving Dean and Cas alone on the mat.

“Ready?” Dean asked with a wink, holding up his hands and dropping into a defensive stance.

“Hang on,” Castiel said. He stepped over to the edge of the mat, tugging off his already-sweaty shirt and tossing it to the ground. When he turned back to face Dean, he noticed the omega’s eyes latch on to the tattoo on his side.

“Huh. Didn’t peg you for an ink kinda guy, Cas.”

“Oh,” Bobby interrupted, managing to sound exasperated and fond at the same time, “And don’t get near faces. I need Dean lookin’ pretty for his undercover cases. Go when you’re ready.”

Dean caught Castiel off-guard the second Bobby said the word with a surprisingly light jab to his shoulder. Castiel ducked out of the way and moved to retaliate, but he realized it had just been a ruse when Dean turned so he was behind the alpha and caught Castiel in a headlock.

They were friends, or they were at least getting to that point, but that didn’t mean Dean was going to go easy on him. He knew Dean wouldn’t draw the fight out just to let Castiel look better in front of Bobby. He’d end the fight the second he had the chance.

So Castiel couldn’t give him that chance. Omega or not, Castiel wasn’t about to go easy on Dean either.

Castiel bent, wrapping an arm around the omega’s thigh and flipping Dean over his shoulder. Dean landed flat on his back a surprised grunt, all the breath leaving his lungs in a rush. Castiel turned and moved to pin Dean for good, end the fight early, but before the omega had even caught his breath he was rallying, swinging a leg up and catching Castiel’s shoulder with his foot. With a shove, he sent the alpha reeling backward.

It gave Dean enough time to roll over and push back up onto his knees. Castiel was about to charge back in, knowing he’d have the advantage over the omega if they were fighting in close-quarters, but Dean's position had him pausing.

Dean was on his knees in front of Castiel, looking up at the alpha with wide eyes and parted lips. He looked up from under his lashes then slowly lowered his chin—the picture of perfect, innocent, sweet submission—and Castiel was completely derailed. He froze, just staring at Dean with wide eyes.

But in the next second, Dean dropped the submissive posturing and _smirked,_ spinning and hooking a leg around the back of Castiel’s knees and making the alpha fall. From there, Dean maneuvered behind Cas and pushed the alpha onto his stomach.

Castiel felt Dean’s weight drape across his back, holding him down, but apparently the omega had forgotten how much stronger Castiel was than him. Cas easily surged upward, rolling with Dean and flipping him onto his back, and then turned so he was on top of Dean, his weight completely pinning the omega down so that Dean could barely move and certainly couldn't get away.

Dean’s smirk disappeared, replaced by panic. At first, Castiel assumed he was pretending again, just trying to distract him until he could find an opening, but then the fear started bleeding into the omega’s scent. Dean, for whatever reason, was actually truly terrified. With how close they were, with how much they were sweating, there was no way Castiel _couldn’t_ notice it.

He shifted his weight, intentionally giving Dean an obvious opening, and Dean took it. He slammed his elbow into the alpha’s side, his panic making him hit much harder than either of them had been hitting the duration of the fight, and Castiel didn’t have to fake his groan. He rolled off Dean and scooted away, pretending to clutch at the spot he _knew_ was going to bruise later when he was really just giving Dean a moment to recover.

He wasn’t sure if Dean realized what Cas was doing or not. Dean got his fire back quickly, and the fight continued. 

They fought for a while longer, Dean sometimes getting the advantage and Castiel immediately reversing it, when Castiel landed a hard blow to Dean’s stomach, just below his rib cage.

Dean scrambled backward, clutching at his stomach, and let out a pitiful whimper that had Castiel freezing mid-step, all the fight draining from his limbs.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked, staring at Dean with wide eyes that mirrored the omega’s.

To his annoyance, Dean smirked again. “Sucker.” In the next second, Castiel’s legs were _again_ kicked out from underneath him and he landed directly on his tailbone. It seemed to be one of Dean's favorite moves, catching his opponents by surprise and throwing off their momentum.

He growled and rolled over, lifting into a crouch, and bared his teeth at the smug omega. A little of the humor disappeared from Dean’s face, and his green eyes widened.

“Alright, alright. That’s probably enough,” Bobby grumbled.

Both Dean and Castiel jumped, having completely forgotten the beta’s presence.

“But—“ Dean whined.

“I have a feeling this fight could go on _forever_ if I don’t put a stop to it now. I hate to tell ya, boy, but it looks to me like you and Cas are pretty evenly matched.”

“I disagree,” Cas said, narrowing his eyes at Dean and shoving the omega playfully. “ _I_ don’t have to cheat.”

“What? How do I cheat?”

Castiel mimicked the omega’s innocent, wide-eyed look. “’ _Don’t hurt me, Castiel. I’m just an innocent, wounded omega._ ’”

Dean laughed, his eyes crinkling around the edges. “Dude, that’s _so_ not cheating! I’m just working with what I’ve got, nothin’ wrong with that. It’s not my fault you fall for it so beautifully.”

“I do not,” Cas huffed.

“You _so_ do. I had you eating out of the palm of my hand, buddy.”

Neither noticed Bobby roll his eyes. “Alright, enough of the yammering. Dean, don’t you have work to get back to? Unless you wanna stay here and _flirt_ all day…”

Dean jumped. “I wasn’t!” He looked at Cas nervously. “I wasn’t—that _definitely_ wasn’t—“

 Cas smiled a little, letting Dean blush and fumble because as much as the implied rejection hurt, Castiel was just glad _Dean_ was the one feeling awkward for a change.

“I know, Dean,” he said, finally taking pity on the uncomfortable omega. “I believe Bobby was joking.”

Dean’s blush deepened, and it really was a beautiful look on him. “Well, yeah. I mean, _I_ know that, but I just wanted to make sure _you_ knew that, ‘cause, um, you know, alphas can take stuff so literally sometimes, and…yeah.”

Cas just chuckled.

“Shut up,” Dean said with a half-hearted shove at the alpha’s shoulder.

Castiel grabbed his shirt, putting it on despite being drenched in sweat. “Well, Dean,” he began, “If I don’t get this job, it was a pleasure meeting you. If you ever, for any reason, find yourself requiring FBI assistance, I would be happy to help.”

“Yeah, likewise.”

Castiel smiled at Dean, and Dean gave him a small smile back. Realizing he’d been staring, Cas held out a hand. Dean searched the alpha’s face for a moment, frowning a little, before shaking it. The handshake only lasted a moment, but Castiel couldn’t help but realize it might be the last contact he’d ever have with Dean.

“I’m not worried though, Cas,” Dean confided in a whisper, just quiet enough so Bobby couldn’t hear. “You’re going to get the job.”

Dean left, and it was a miracle Castiel was able to keep himself from watching the omega walk away. He didn’t let himself look, though, because he knew Bobby was watching him. He met the beta’s gaze evenly.

It wasn’t till Dean was gone that Bobby spoke. “Don’t think I didn’t notice what happened.”

Castiel frowned. Had he been too obvious about his attraction to Dean? It’s not like Castiel was planning on doing anything untoward, but harboring a secret crush on one of the OPA’s top agents probably wasn’t a good start. “What happened?”

Bobby chuckled. “Dean panicked; you helped him out without letting him know you were helping him out.”

“I didn’t—“

Bobby raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish.

“It was my fault for putting him in that position in the first place, sir. I should have been more careful—“

“You were fighting,” Bobby interrupted. “Shit happens. But I appreciate what you did. Dean doesn’t get like that often, but when he does he takes it real hard. You giving him the power back softened the blow.”

“Oh, I—“

“Take the compliment, Novak.”

“Thank you, then,” Castiel smiled.

Don’t mention it. By the way, you’ve got the job.”

Castiel’s mouth fell open. “What? But isn’t it too soon—“

“You were the last applicant,” Bobby shrugged, “Balthazar already came and told me how you did. Your fighting skills look good. You were willing to help us out on the Roman case. You minored in omega rights. The thing with helping Dean was the icing on the cake. You start on Monday. Be in the office by seven.”

“Yes, sir,” Cas said, trying to keep the smile off his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sweats nervously and hopes nobody notices that I pretty much copied that fight from Miss Congeniality*
> 
> Hope you guys are liking it so far! I'm really, really, really grateful for all the support and comments I've gotten! (Comments are like crack to writers)


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, what the hell. Seriously, this was weird.

Maybe it would be best if Cas _didn’t_ get the job, because then all this weirdness would end.

When Cas was saying goodbye to Dean, talking like they were never going to see each other again, Dean felt sad. Not just “aw, bummer,” sad, but “holy shit you can’t be saying goodbye; this can’t be the end” sad. And _that_ was weird.

Dean avoided forming attachments with people; he’d been screwed over way too many times, and he'd learned his lesson. Or he _thought_ he had. But now he was moping at the thought of never seeing this random alpha again- an guy he’d seen all of _three times_.

That’s the other thing. _Cas is an alpha._ Dean tried to be wary of forming friendships in general, but no way in _hell_ does he form friendships with unmated alphas. It’s just an all-around bad idea. Benny is the exception, but Dean’s known the guy for seven years. It took him at least a year to start trusting the alpha, and it wasn’t until their second year as partners, when Benny mated Andrea, that Dean actually relaxed around him.

But then friggin’ _Cas_ barges in with his weird, stiff way of speaking and his annoyingly endearing innocence that can turn into total badassery at the drop of a hat, and all of a sudden Dean finds himself acting like a schoolgirl with a crush.

No. Dean cringed. That was a bad way of phrasing it. He most certainly did _not_ have a crush. It was just a…fascination. Yeah, that was totally a thing.

But really, Dean did have _rational_ reasons for liking Cas. Everyone he knows—even Bobby and Benny—likes to justify Dean’s gender by immediately explaining it away and making excuses. “Yes, he’s an omega, _but_ he’s actually tough,” or “yeah, I know he’s an omega, _but_ he’s really not like most omegas,” as if Dean is just some anomaly. What really bugs him about that attitude is how it seems like they’re _apologizing_ for the fact that he’s an omega, acting like being an omega is something he should be ashamed of and implying that the fact that he “isn’t like other omegas” is a _good_ thing.

After just the few interactions he’s had with Cas, Dean can already tell Castiel doesn’t see him like that. To Cas, it’s “yes, he’s an omega, and yes, he’s also…”

It was refreshing. Dean decided then that he wasn’t going to worry about this blossoming friendship with Cas. So he actually wanted to be treated like a whole, complete individual for once. So he enjoyed having someone acknowledge that he can be dangerous _because_ he’s an omega, not dangerous _despite being_ an omega.

It’s not like he’s going to fall in love with the guy or anything.

Dean made it all the way up to his office, engrossed in his thoughts, and didn’t notice Benny trying to flag him down.

“Hey,” Benny said, clapping Dean on the back. “Earth to Winchester!”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, Benny. I was thinking. What’s up?”

“You all done with the applicant stuff? I was thinking we could go over some stuff for the Hinley case before you go home today.”

“Yeah, sure. Just let me go change real quick; I’ll meet you in your office.”

 

Dean found out later that day that Cas got the job. Unfortunately, he and Benny were gonna be out of town for Castiel’s first day. Dean was a little bummed he wouldn’t get to help Cas settle in, but he quickly got over it when Benny started teasing him.

 

 

 .

Castiel tried not to be nervous before his first day of work at his new job, but he failed miserably. He woke up hours before he had to even get ready, then— _of course-_ was unable to fall back asleep. Annoyed, he picked out what he was going to wear, got in a short workout to drain some of his excess energy, changed his mind about what he should wear, made breakfast, and decided to go back to the first outfit he’d picked out. Anna said the blue tie went better with his eyes, anyways.

Not that he was trying to _impress_ anyone or anything. It was just...general nervousness.

 

As it turns out, Dean wasn’t even in the office all day.

When Castiel showed up to his new job in the morning, right on time, the redheaded girl he’d spoken to when he came in for an interview pounced on him.

“Hey! You must be Castiel! Name’s Charlie Bradbury. I’m sort of the office’s leading tech expert. Searching, hacking, retrieving—I’m your girl,” she said, holding out her hand with an excited grin. Castiel smiled back, shaking her hand.

“Charlie. I believe Dean has mentioned you.”

“Oh, you know Dean already?” Charlie grinned, looking Castiel up and down thoughtfully, “Cool. Well if he likes you, I’m sure I will too. Anyways, Bobby’s actually not in this morning, so he asked me to show you the ropes.”

Cas took a deep breath, nodding. “Okay.”

“Nervous?” Charlie asked with a smirk. She nodded at the blonde beta woman that walked past.

“A little,” he admitted.

“Don’t be. We don’t bite, promise. Except maybe Bobby and Dean, especially if they haven’t had their morning coffees, but you’ve already met them, so the worst is already behind you.”

Castiel just chuckled and let Charlie lead him through the maze of cubicles.

 .

She showed him around the building first, from the small shooting range, to the gym (which he’d already seen, when he fought with Dean), to the café on the second floor (though Charlie said their coffee wasn’t very good—only to be consumed in emergencies. She told him there was a small coffee shop—Castiel assumed it was the one he’d met Dean in—down the street that they all frequented).

Then, she introduced him to everyone in the office. There were less faces to remember than there were at his old job, and they were all much friendlier. It seemed like they were all very close, but at the same time, they were all incredibly welcoming and did whatever they could to make Castiel feel comfortable.

Finally, after two hours of introduction, small talk, and Charlie parading Castiel around the office like an exciting new toy, Charlie showed him to an office, empty except for a desk and a computer.

“Well, here we are. Your new home away from home.”

Castiel gaped at her. “I get my own office?”

“Yeah, all the field agents get their own office. Surprised?”

“Yes,” he said, stepping inside hesitantly, “At the FBI, I had a small cubicle shoved into the back corner out of sight.”

Charlie giggled. “Yikes. Well this is definitely a step up, then. Here, let me help you login and stuff. We use a different system than the FBI, so this'll probably all look like Klingon to you,” she said, plopping into the desk chair and rolling closer to the computer.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Well then I made my point, didn’t I? Now pull up a seat.”

Castiel pulled the spare chair up next to her and sat, squinting at the computer screen. It _did_ look like gibberish. He was bad with computers in the first place; trying to learn new programs was a mild form of torture to him.

Bobby returned while Charlie was explaining the system, checking in on them to see how Cas was doing.

“When Charlie’s done showing you this stuff you get to go through all this,” he said, pulling open the bottom desk drawer to reveal a massive, disheveled stack of papers. Cas let out a dismayed whine. “Tell me about it,” Bobby rolled his eyes, “The guy that worked here before you was an unorganized shithead. When you’re done with all that there’s even more files on that computer he never went through.”

“Wonderful.”

Bobby chuckled. “Sorry to dump this all on you on your first day. It’s not all paperwork that you’re gonna be doing, promise.”

“I don’t mind it,” Cas said, smiling up the gruff beta.

“Good. Have fun,” he said on his way out.

 .

On Castiel’s second day, Cas was trying to get into his office when he happened to glance over his shoulder left. He temporarily forgot about unlocking the door, leaving his keys in the lock and leaning against the door.

There was another office against the far wall, one noticeably bigger than his own, that had been dark and locked the day before. The door was open today, the curtains pulled back to let in the bright sunlight. Dean sat at the large desk, talking to someone on the phone and leaning back in his seat, the heels of his boots resting on the desk.

It had only been three days since he'd last seen the omega and he'd already forgotten how beautiful Dean was.

Dean glanced up, making eye contact with Castiel, and Cas smiled and waved. Dean’s answering grin was brighter than the sunlight at his back. He waved Cas over.

Castiel approached and leaned against the door frame while he waited for Dean to finish up his phone call.

“Good morning, Dean,” he said when Dean had hung up.

“Mornin’, Cas! How was your first day?”

“It was great, thank you.”

Dean smiled a little and waited for Cas to continue. “Yeah? You wanna expand on that, or...?” he prompted when it didn’t seem like the alpha was going to continue on his own.

Castiel nodded. “Charlie showed me around and introduced me to everyone. The people are very friendly here,” he added, glancing behind him at the rest of the office. Both he and Dean were in much earlier than they needed to be, so there weren’t many others in the building yet.

“That’s good. So why’re you here so early on your second day?”

“I still have paperwork from the FBI I have to finish, and I want to get it done with so I can focus on my new job here,” Cas explained. “What about you? What brings you in so early?”

Dean shrugged. “I dunno. Habit. There’s just always work that can be done here, and an extra hour of work every morning might end up saving a life down the line, you know?”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” Cas said, watching Dean closely.

They chatted for a little while, but eventually—unfortunately—Castiel had to excuse himself to get to work.

 .

Later in the afternoon, Benny visited Castiel's office.

“Hey Novak,” Benny’s voice came from the doorway. “Can I talk to ya for a minute?”

Castiel looked up from the unorganized stack of files and forms his predecessor left him and smiled at Benny. “Of course.”

“How’re you settling in?” Benny asked, closing the door before lounging in the spare chair.

“Pretty well. Whoever worked here before me was _horribly_ unorganized, but on the bright side, everyone has been very welcoming," he said. He paused, studying the alpha. "I’m getting the sense that you came in here to talk about something specific?”

“Straight to business, huh? I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, Novak,” Benny chuckled. He grew suddenly serious, leaning forward and trying to expand his frame to make him look bigger. “But you’re right. I wanted to talk about Dean.”

Castiel frowned in confusion, ignoring the other alpha's posturing. “Is this one of those ‘if you hurt him, I’ll kill you’ talks?” As the older brother to an omega sister, Castiel knew all about these talks. He just normally wasn’t on the receiving end.

“No,” Benny scoffed. “It’s not.”

“Good. Besides, I have the feeling that if it came to it Dean would be able to kill me himself.”

“You’re right about that, which is why this ain’t that kind of talk. It’s a ‘don’t get your hopes up, or _he’ll_ end up hurting _you’_ talk.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Come on, I know you’ve noticed how hot Dean is, an' I’ve seen how close the two of you already are. But there’s a reason he’s twenty-five and doesn’t have a mate. He doesn’t want one, and I’ve known him long enough to be convinced he never will.”

Cas felt himself blush. He opened his mouth to tell Benny he _hadn’t,_ in fact, ‘noticed how hot Dean is’ (despite it being a complete lie), but Benny cut him off.

“I’m just tryin’ to watch your back, brother. Over the years, I’ve watched alpha after alpha fall in love with Dean just to get shot down. They guy that worked here before you was one of ‘em.”

“I see,” Castiel said, “Were _you_ ever…?”

Benny laughed, scratching absentmindedly at his beard. “Once upon a time, yeah. Back when Dean had just started working here. That was what, seven years ago? Then I met my Andrea and I was cured,” he joked.

“Dean has worked here _seven years?_ How old was he when he joined?”

“Pretty damn young. Joined right out of high school. He was training to join for years before that, too.”

Cas raised an eyebrow and Benny leaned forward, apparently eager for a chance to gossip. Castiel made sure to file that bit of information away for future use.

“I’ve been the guy’s partner for six years and I still don’t know the whole story. All I know’s that _Dean found Bobby_ when he was just a little tyke, around 13 or 14, and begged Bobby to train him for the OPA. Didn’t have any parents or family of any kind, so Bobby said okay and practically adopted Dean, taught him everything he knows.”

Castiel hummed thoughtfully, wondering if he’d ever get the story from Dean’s own mouth. He felt bad gossiping about the omega, especially if Dean was as private about his past as Benny made him out to be.

“Anyway, enough gossip. I just came to warn you about getting caught in the omega’s trap.”

“Am I really that obvious?” Cas asked, cringing.

“Only ‘cause I’ve seen the signs. Don’t worry, though—Dean has no idea. That reminds me: _do not_ tell Dean what I said about how I used to…y’know.”

Castiel chucked. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Benny said, standing and opening the door, “the asshole would never let me live it down.”

Bobby walked past at that moment, overhearing the end of their conversation. “That don’t sound like work talk, boys.”

“I was just giving Cas here a few pointers for surviving in this office,” Benny said, winking at Castiel.

“I'm sure that's what you were doing. Stop corrupting the new guy, Lafitte,” Bobby ordered. Again, his words were rough, but there was a smile behind his eyes. Bobby was unlike anyone Castiel had been exposed to before. Amusing but slightly terrifying at the same time.

“Yessir,” Benny said with a mock salute. He waved at Cas and headed back to his own office.

 .

.

On Castiel’s third day, he decided to head in even earlier than the day before so he could go to the gym before heading up to work.

There were only a few people in the gym at that early hour, and Castiel was glad he’d be able to experiment with the equipment without having to worry about too many people milling around.

He found the locker room and stuffed his things into a locker. When he walked out onto the main gym floor, he first stretched and then headed for one of the open treadmills to warm up.

Fifteen minutes into his run, none other than Dean Winchester strolled into the gym. Castiel sighed, because apparently the universe wasn’t going to let him forget about Dean, even for an hour.

The omega didn’t see him at first, moving straight to the corner of the gym that had several punching bags hanging from the ceiling.

After another ten minutes, Castiel hopped off the treadmill and walked over to join him.

“What do you say,” he began as he approached Dean, making the omega yelp and jump in surprise, “to another rematch? This time with a definite winner?”

Once he'd recovered from his initial surprise, Dean grinned at him. “Dude. _Hell yes._ And I’m not going easy on you this time.”

They got geared up to spar again, going through the same routine as the first time. Dean laid down some guidelines while Cas wrapped his hands, and then they were sparring.

Cas was careful not to pin Dean like he had in that first fight, remembering how the omega had started to panic, and Dean, for his part, was true to his word and definitely did notgo easy on Castiel. He seemed to put everything he had into the fight, and it was over in five minutes, ending with Castiel pinned to the ground. Dean was straddling Cas' back and had the alpha's arm twisted behind him.

“I win,” Dean smirked when Cas tapped out, letting go of Castiel's arm.

“Congratulations,” Castiel rolled his eyes, “Rematch?”

Dean laughed, lifting his weight off Cas. Cas rolled onto his back and Dean collapsed onto the mat next to him. They both lay there for a while, catching their breath. “Some other time, sure. You know, you lose pretty graciously, for an alpha,” Dean observed. He turned his head, narrowing his eyes at Cas. “You didn’t let me win, did you?”

“You’re asking me if I intentionally got my ass kicked by an omega in front a dozen of my new coworkers?” Cas clarified, squinting back at Dean.

Dean laughed. “Okay, fair enough." He sat up suddenly. "You know what, Cas? We should totally do this!”

Castiel frowned. “Do what?”

“Practice with each other! If we’re both going to be here working out in the morning anyways, why not make this a regular thing?”

“I do think there’s a lot I could learn from you,” Cas rationalized while a small part of his mind freaked out about regular close physical contact with Dean.

“And there's some areas I could use some practice with, too.”

“Let’s do it,” Castiel said, smiling fully at Dean. He sat up and dusted off his shorts. He stood, holding a hand out to Dean. Dean took it and Castiel hauled the omega up onto his feet.

“Awesome,” Dean agreed. "See you back at the office."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's still supporting this fic! Your comments all make me SO happy, even if I don't respond to them all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You were all so curious about Dean's past that I decided to explain some things (and by "explain some things" I mean drop a few hints that will ultimately make you more curious/confused). Enjoy!

Two weeks passed and Castiel settled into his new job at the OPA. Once he finished the last of his FBI paperwork, the workload got lighter and more manageable. He made it through all of the leftover OPA paperwork shortly after that, and Bobby immediately got him working with Dean, Benny, and another agent named Jody on a big omega assault case.

Benny was in charge, and while Cas was essentially just on the case to provide a fresh look and an extra pair of hands, Benny made sure to give him the occasional important job.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Castiel sparred with Dean in the mornings. The first few times were a little awkward, partially because they were still trying to figure out the other’s fighting styles but _mostly_ because there was some invisible line between them that they were both terrified of crossing. Part of the problem was that neither of them even _knew what the line was or what it meant,_ so they weren’t sure how to avoid it and that made the situation tense. Castiel was sure that they just needed to get used to each other, and that things would get easier once Dean felt more comfortable around him.

By the end of the first week, he’d memorized the names of everyone in the office. In the FBI, Castiel was always an outsider. But at the OPA, he had the feeling that they’d all been outsiders in their own right at one point or another, and so they were all careful to be kind and welcoming to everyone they met.

Occasionally, a group of agents from the office would go out for lunch, and they always invited Castiel. Other than that, though, he realized that the others had social lives that were just as pathetic as his own.

All in all, he already loved _everything_ about this new job, and he was looking forward to what opportunities it would bring.

.

.

“But I told you, Dean. I refuse to watch the reboots,” Charlie scowled, "and there's nothing you can say that'll change my mind."

“Come on, Charlie!” Dean whined, sliding Charlie’s keyboard to the side and sitting on her desk. “The new one is supposed to be _really_ good. I mean, it’s got the Sherlock guy! Bandersnatch Cumberpatch or whatever.”

“I _know_ you know his name, Dean! You just do that to make me mad,” Charlie crossed her arms grumpily, pouting.

“Do not!” Dean laughed. He glanced over and noticed Cas returning to his office, coffee mug in hand. “Cas! Get over here.”

“Have you seen the new Star Trek movies?” Dean asked as Cas joined them by Charlie’s desk.

“No.”

“Ha!” Charlie said, pointing at Dean. “Have you seen any of the _old_ Star Trek episodes?”

“Um…no?”

“What the hell, dude,” Charlie said.

“He’s probably just a Star Wars guy,” Dean shrugged.

“I haven’t seen that, either.”

“ _What?!_ ” Both Charlie and Dean shouted at the same time, forgetting their irritation with each other to turn on Cas. The alpha cringed.

“I, um…sorry?” He said.

“How the hell have you gone your whole life without seeing Star Wars?” Dean demanded.

“My mother was very religious; she didn’t like secular movies.”

“Do you still live with your mom, Cas?” Dean asked. It seemed like a serious question.

With a confused frown, Castiel tilted his head to one side. “No.”

“Then you have _no_ excuse, man! What other ‘secular’ movies haven’t you seen?”

“Most of them, probably,” Cas admitted.

“What?! Dude. You’re telling me you’ve never seen the Untouchables? Lord of the Rings? Die Hard? Pulp Fiction? The Godfather? The goddamn _Notebook_?!”

Castiel shook his head at each title Dean listed, hesitating at the last one. “Oh wait, I believe I’ve seen that one.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Dean said, turning to Charlie. They shared a long-suffering look before turning back to Cas. “Why _that one?_ Of _all_ the movies I just listed?”

Castiel blushed. “Oh. I, um, had a girlfriend in college that made me watch it with her.”

“You had a—oh. Really? Beta girl, I’m guessing?”

Castiel wasn’t sure what that had to do with movies, but he nodded. Meanwhile, Charlie watched the whole exchange with a grin, one that turned wicked just before she asked, “Dean, why don’t you invite Cas to movie night?”

Dean glared at her suspiciously. “Why don’t _you_ invite Cas to movie night?”

“Cas, you should come to movie night,” Charlie said, rolling her eyes, “We can give you a proper movie education.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude on your tradition—“

“Don’t worry about it; it’s not a private thing—Benny and Andrea have a standing invitation. So does Jody, but she hardly ever comes.”

“To your movie things?” Benny asked, joining them. “Yeah, Andrea and I’ll go on the rare occasions where the movies aren’t nerdy.”

“Okay, Star Wars isn’t _nerdy,_ dude. It’s a cult classic,” Dean said.

“Whatever you say, brother.”

“But seriously, Cas, you should come. We try to do a movie night every week—tonight we can marathon episodes IV, V, and VI, and then next week we can do I, II, and III.”

“Why would we watch them out of—“

“No!” Dean cried, jumping forward and clapping his hand over Castiel’s mouth. Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean. “Trust me when I say you don’t wanna get Charlie started on that one.”

“Long story short, 4-6 were made before 1-3,” Charlie laughed. “So? Can you make it?”

“When is it?”

“Tonight,” Dean answered. “At my place.”

“I suppose I can make it,” Cas said, buckling under the pressure of Charlie and Dean’s hopeful smiles.

“Yay!” Charlie squeaked. She hopped up and threw her arms around Castiel’s neck. “And when we finish Star Wars, there’s a whole _world_ of movies we can introduce you to. This is going to be _so. Much. Fun!_ We’ll make a geek out of you yet, Novak.”

.

.

Dean threw all of his dirty clothes into his closet, quickly sliding the door shut before the unbalanced stack of laundry could fall back out onto the floor. He wasn’t even sure why he was cleaning his _bed_ _room_ ; it’s obviously not like Charlie or Cas were gonna go in there. He just knew he had to make his apartment presentable because it was a _mess._ He’d actually left work early—for the first time in _years_ —to give himself time to clean.

Charlie had been over dozens of times, of course. Hell, she’d even slept in his bed with him before (it's not like there were any secret attraction issues, seeing as she was strictly into chicks and he was predominantly into... _well_ ). She’d seen the apartment when dishes were piled high in the sink, Dvds were everywhere, and clothes littered the floor, but Cas had never seen it. Cas seemed like the kind of guy that liked things clean, and Dean...well, he wasn't aiming to _impress_ Cas or anything, he just didn’t want Cas getting distracted from the movies by the mess.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and fished it out, grinning when he saw the caller ID. He sprinted to turn off his music before answering.

“Sammy!”

The responding amused laugh had Dean smiling even wider. “Dean. Why do you sound out of breath?”

“Oh, you know. I’m just busy livin’ it up…partying. Drinking. Sex. You know how it is.”

Sam snorted. “Right. You may not want to tell me where you live, dork, but I’ve figured out what time zone you live in. It’s only two o’clock where you are, and not even _you_ are going to go out that early.”

“How the hell did you figure that out?”

“Uh,” Sam laughed sheepishly, “Last time we talked I asked you what time it was and you answered, so I was able to figure out that you’re two hours ahead of me, which is the Central time zone. That means you’re somewhere in the Midwest.”

“Okay, you officially have too much time on your hands. Look, I told you I’ll come visit you anytime you want, just don’t try to figure out where I live. That’s like, my _one_ rule.”

“I know, but you’re changing the subject, Dean. What are you doing that has you so out of breath?”

“Dude, you’re being nosy again,” Dean sighed, leaning against his kitchen counter and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Little brother didn’t know about Dean’s job. He’d _flip_ if he ever found out, so Dean was careful to keep quiet about his work life (and anything that might lead Sam to _figure out_ shit about his work life). “ _As it happens,_ I was cleaning my apartment.”

“And that made you out of breath?”

“I might’ve…” Dean glanced over at his stereo, “Um, I might’ve been dancing, too…”

Sam laughed, making Dean smile fondly. “Wait. Back up a second. _You’re_ cleaning? Why?”

“I have people coming over,” Dean mumbled, hoping this didn’t turn into an interrogation. But then, why would Sam start going easy on him now?

“Charlie?”

“Yeah, and my friend Cas.”

“Cas? I haven’t heard her name before.”

“ _His._ And yeah, he’s, uh…new. A new friend. But anyways, we’re just having a movie night thing, so…”

“No, no, wait. Go back to Cas. How did you meet him? What is he, beta? Omega? Or is he…”

Damn it. Sam, the little demon child with the freaky ESP, could _always_ tell when his big brother was trying to hide something from him.

“He’s…damn it. Fine. He’s an alpha, but—“

“Dean! You invited an alpha you _just met_ to your house?!” Sam shouted.

“Charlie’s gonna be here, too,” Dean shrugged. He crossed over to the sink, getting started on washing the dishes.

“How big is Charlie?” Sam asked suddenly.

“What?”

“How tall is she? Like—“

“Dude, I don’t know? Like 5’4?”

“Then yeah, Dean. She’s going to be a _real big_ help against some rampaging alpha—“

“Okay, first of all: Cas is literally _the most_ level-headed alpha I’ve ever met. Second, he’s _definitely_ not into me like that. Third, I _am_ actually capable of taking care of myself, which I’ve told you like a million times.”

Sam sighed dramatically. “You’re right, okay. Sorry for nagging.”

“It’s fine,” Dean said, rolling his eyes, “How’s school going?”

Sam laughed. “Smooth subject change there, Dean. School’s good. My advisor’s been helping me find internships for the summer, which could _really_ help me with getting into a good law school. Oh! And mom visited for my spring break two weeks ago—“

Dean dropped the dish he’d been cleaning, cringing when it clattered loudly in the sink.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked, unusually quiet.

“Yeah,” Dean said, voice cracking on the word. ”Just peachy. So, uh, how’d she like California? Was it just her, or did…?”

“Dad came too, I just didn't think you'd wanna hear about that. And yeah, Mom loved it. We went down to LA for a couple of days, saw the sights. You know, Dean, you _could_ talk to her—“

“I can’t, Sam. You know I can’t.”

“Dean, she think you’re _dead!_ Do you know how hard it is to pretend I don’t talk to you regularly when she—“

“Yeah, must be real hard for you, Sammy. Listen, I’ll come back to life the day John bites it, kay? Promise. And hey, with his lifestyle his liver ain’t gonna hold out much longer anyways. But whatever, I really gotta go. My apartment’s seriously a mess and Charlie and Cas are going to be here in a couple of hours.”

“That’s a little early to start a movie night, isn’t it?”

“Desperate times. Cas has never seen Star Wars, so we’re watching the whole original trilogy tonight.”

“Oh my God,” Sam laughed, “You are still such a dork. Have fun, and be careful around—“

“Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later.”

.

.

Charlie and Castiel arrived at Dean’s apartment at the same time. Charlie burst through the door without bothering to knock, grabbing Castiel’s wrist and dragging him in behind her. It was a nice apartment, from what Cas saw at first glance, and much cleaner than he expected from _Dean’s_ apartment (He’d see the omega’s office and it was slightly terrifying).

The apartment building was located about ten minutes out of the city (but then, it was three in the afternoon. That “ten minutes” wasn’t accounting for Chicago traffic).

“Honey, I’m home!” Charlie shouted.

Dean appeared in the open doorway to their right, frowning at Charlie. “Sure, Bradbury. Just come on in.”

“Quit whining, baby. Do you have the movies set up?”

Dean pouted. “They’re out, but not set up—“ He didn’t even finish his sentence before Charlie was flouncing off down the hall, completely ignoring him.

Dean rolled his eyes, smiling fondly after her.

“So, Cas. Welcome to Casa Winchester,” Dean said. “Did you get my texts?”

Cas nodded and smiled, holding up the bag of groceries he’d picked up on his way over.

“Awesome,” Dean beamed. He stepped to the side, beckoning Cas through the doorway he was standing in, and grabbed the bag from the alpha’s hand as Cas walked past.

Castiel found himself standing in Dean’s kitchen, which was simple but organized. There were no decorations of any kind- just blank, tan walls and barren countertops. 

“Sorry I had to ask you to stop, Cas,” Dean said, starting to empty the contents of the bag onto the counter. “But I’ve got Ramen, popcorn, and frozen pizza here, and that’s it. So we’re gonna make burgers, but not until after the first movie. Come on.”

Dean grabbed Cas by the wrist, pulling him in the direction Charlie disappeared in. They found her in the living room, where she was sitting eagerly in front of the TV. “Are you ready for your entire life to change, Cas?” she asked eagerly, looking up at them.

“I suppose,” Cas said. He finally started to worry when Dean shoved him back onto the couch and Dean and Charlie crowded on either side of him. Before he could start to question the choices that brought him to this point, music blared through the speakers and the movie started.

 .

When they finished A New Hope, Dean and Charlie looked at Castiel expectantly.

“Well?” Charlie asked.

“I’m surprised,” Castiel admitted, “At first, I was concerned. It seemed rather…odd. But I'm surprised how much I liked it.”

“Yay!” Charlie squealed, hugging the surprised alpha. Dean grinned, patting Castiel’s knee before standing up.

“Dinner?”

They all worked together to make the _best_ burgers Castiel had ever eaten in his life. Well, _Cas and Dean_ worked together. Dean got annoyed with Charlie before they even started cooking and kicked her out of his kitchen, saying something about locking her in the bathroom during some Leia bikini scene or something if she didn’t behave. Cas wasn’t entirely sure what was happening.

On her way out of the kitchen, Charlie winked at him and patted him on the shoulder.

After they ate the meal, Charlie bodily dragged Castiel back into the living room to watch the next two movies.

While Castiel was basking in the horror that _Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father,_ Dean and Charlie seemed to find something vastly amusing.

“Dude,” Dean managed to get out between bouts of laughter, “I have _never_ met _anyone_ who didn’t know Vader is Anakin. _Everyone knows that,_ man.”

Castiel glared at Dean. “Well _clearly,_ Dean, I didn’t.”

 

After they finished the third movie, they all sat and talked for a while. Dean and Charlie were delighted to find that Cas—as Charlie phrased it—“Had a geek inside him just dying to rise from the ashes like Dumbledore’s phoenix” (Cas had frowned in confusion and looked to Dean for help, but the omega had just laughed at him).

Eventually, though, Charlie got up and stretched, saying she had to get home to her cat. Castiel knew it was time for him to go too, lest he overstay his welcome.

“Well this was fun as always, Dean,” Charlie said, pulling Dean into a quick hug before flouncing out the door. “See you tomorrow, bitches,” she called over her shoulder.

“Thank you for inviting me, Dean,” Castiel said, standing awkwardly in the doorway of Dean’s apartment. “I really enjoyed the movies.”

“Good. I think you’ll like the next three,” Dean grinned. “So, uh, see you tomorrow?”

Cas nodded. “Goodnight, Dean.”

There was a moment where Cas thought Dean was about to hug him, but then Dean just held out a hand for the alpha to shake. Cas raised an eyebrow, looking at Dean’s proffered hand, and smiled.

“Uh. Night, Cas.”

In a moment of bravery, Castiel took Dean’s hand in both of his, looking Dean straight in the eye. The omega seemed alarmed by the sudden contact at first, but relaxed when Cas didn't try anything else. “Dean, I just want to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me."

Dean looked like he was about to interrupt, but Cas cut him off. "You've been nothing but kind and accommodating since we met, and not just with the job. You befriended me when-"

"Oh my God," Dean groaned. With an exasperated eye roll, Dean stepped forward and pulled Cas into a tight hug.

Cas hummed, leaning into the hug and pulling Dean closer. God, Dean smelled like everything good in the world. Castiel had to consciously refrain himself from trying to scent the omega. 

"Will you just  _shut up_?" Dean mumbled into Castiel's shoulder. "I don't like chick flick moments."

Cas pulled away first, beaming at Dean. "Understood. I will see you at work tomorrow."

.

When Castiel got home, he set his keys on the kitchen counter and froze at the voice that suddenly came from the shadows. 

"Hello, Castiel."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's a lot of rape/non-con elements going on in this chapter.

The intruder flicked on the kitchen light. Castiel squinted in the sudden harsh light, picking up the vase by the door to use in self-defense, ready to throw it at whoever was in his kitchen. Then he spotted the intruder and groaned, putting the vase back on the counter.

“ _Gabriel!_ I could’ve _shot_ you!” he growled at the smug asshole sitting on his counter.

“With your deadly vase?”

“You’re just lucky I didn’t have my gun on me,” Castiel sighed, shucking off his jacket and hanging it on the hook by the door.

“Lucky me, then,” the exasperating ball of energy that was Castiel’s older brother laughed. “But oh my God, Cassie. You should’ve seen your face! I totally got you!”

“I hate you so much. How long were you just sitting there in the dark, waiting for me?”

“Hours. I didn’t expect you to actually have a life! I had my phone to entertain me until about an hour ago, so it wasn’t too bad. By the way, I need to borrow your charger.”

Castiel rolled his eyes, approaching the small beta. He shoved Gabriel off his counter, opening a drawer underneath where his brother had just been sitting. “It’s right here, though I’m not sure I want to lend it to you after this.”

Gabriel snatched it out of his hand anyways. “Did you just _roll your eyes_ at me? Jeez, who are you? I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

Ah. So Gabriel’s stake out wasn’t just meant to give him a heart attack, Castiel realized. Though Gabriel would never admit it, he actually missed his younger brother.

“I am sorry I haven’t been able to spend time with you and Anna lately. I’ve been so busy at my new job—“

“Right. Your top secret job with the not-to-be-named governmental agency,” Gabe winked.

Cas rolled his eyes again, a habit he’d admittedly picked up from pretty much _everyone_ in the OPA offices. “It’s the Omega Protection Agency, Gabriel. Not the CIA. You’re allowed to talk about it.”

Gabriel shrugged. “So how come you don’t have your gun on you? You just came from work, didn’t you?” he asked, launching into detective mode.

“No, actually.”

“What?! Were you at the library or something?”

“No?  Why would I—“

“Well I’m here and Anna was at dinner with Michael and you don’t have any other friends, so where the hell were you?”

Cas pouted. “If you’re so brilliant, figure it out on your own.”

Gabriel thought about it for a few seconds then shrugged, hauling himself back up onto Castiel’s counter. “I’m too lazy. Tell me! Cassie!”

“Don’t you have anything better to do than analyze my social life? Where’s Kali?”

Not that Castiel was implying Gabriel was one to neglect his mate. Castiel would consider himself lucky if he and his future mate loved each other as much as Gabriel and Kali loved each other.

“She’s visiting her parents. Won’t be back ‘till Sunday. Don’t change the subject, Castiel James Novak!” he scolded, leaning forward to flick Castiel’s ear. Cas growled, “Oh, you know you don’t scare me, Mr. Big, bad, alpha boy. _Whoa!_  Hang on just a minute!”

Gabriel hopped off the counter and stepped into Castiel’s space.

“Um. Gabriel, what are you doing?”

Gabriel sniffed dramatically; his eyes widened. “WERE YOU ON A DATE?” he shouted.

“What? N-no. Why would you—?”

“Liar! Oh my God, Castiel! You _reek_ of omega!! Now tell me where you were! Who’s the omega? Did the date go well? Well, it couldn’t have gone too well since they’re not here now, but did you at least kiss or something? Oh, I feel like a proud mother!”

“It wasn’t a date, Gabriel! If you would just _calm down,_ I might be able to explain. He’s a coworker. I was with him _and_ another new work friend. We were watching a movie.”

“Oh,” Gabriel said, clearly disappointed. “But, hey! At least you’re making friends! Good for you!”

“I appreciate the support,” Cas said, making no attempt to hide his sarcasm. “But if it’s alright with you, I’m exhausted and would like to get some sleep.”

“Sure thing, little brother. Mind if I crash here for the night? I wasn’t expecting to have to wait for you so long…and then we can go get breakfast tomorrow morning and catch up! You can tell me all about your new job!”

Cas hesitated. Tomorrow was Thursday. “I’m supposed to spar with Dean tomorrow morning.”

“Who’s Dean?”

“Um,” Castiel could feel his face heating up, _knowing_ his brother was going to tease him some more. “The omega I was with tonight.”

“Wait, you _spar_ with an omega? Like, sweaty grappling-type sparring?”

“It is _not—_ “

“Cassie, you _DOG_! Is he hot?”

“I…yes, but our relationship is not—“

“Course not. You’re just going to his house to watch movies and you’re wrestling with him in the mornings and you’re—“

“Gabriel!”

“Oh come on, Cassie. I’m allowed to be excited for my little brother! You haven’t dated in years, and—“

“And I’m not dating _now._ If you promise to stop talking about this, I’ll text Dean telling him I can’t make it tomorrow and you and I can get breakfast instead.”

Gabriel thought it over. “Alright, but you’re telling me all about this omega over waffles tomorrow,” he said, turning on his heel and disappearing into the guest bedroom before Cas could argue.

Castiel groaned, pulling out his phone to text Dean.

.

.

 

The Hinley case took a dark turn.

It was supposed to be simple, an important but straightforward case to get Castiel accustomed to how the OPA gets work done. When Bobby first added him to the case, alongside Dean and Jody and under Benny’s supervision, the charges against Hinley were light.

Brady Hinley is a sexist, arrogant, rude pig, but nothing more serious than that. He’d been charged for harassment and stalking in the past, and this time it was for attempted assault. Because he was a chronically repeating offender Benny was pushing for him to get jail time, which is why they launched a full scale investigation on the alpha.

An attempted drunken assault on a Friday night at a bar isn’t enough to get him off with more than a reprimand and a slap on the wrist, so they were watching him, trying to catch him doing something more serious.

But then things really went downhill when Hinley realized the OPA was watching him.

One minute he was just a jackass, the next he was a psychopath.

It was the simplest thing that led to Hinley figuring it out, something they’d completely failed to take into account when Dean and Benny decided to follow Hinley into a bar one night.

Hinley was notorious for loving omegas.

Dean was probably the most beautiful omega in the world (at least, in Castiel’s humble opinion).

 _Of course_ Hinley was going to approach Dean if he saw the omega sitting alone at the bar.

When it happened, Dean adjusted nicely. Hinley bought Dean a drink, gave the omega a fake name, and Dean played along. But then two minutes into the conversation, Dean accidentally called Hinley by his real name.

Hinley caught on fast when Dean floundered, recognizing Dean as one of the OPA agents that worked a previous harassment case of his (it was years ago and Dean had barely been involved; they really hadn’t expected Brady to remember).

The two started arguing, Brady pushing almost of all of Dean’s buttons with just a few words, and it escalated to the point where Benny and the bartender had to step in. Hinley called Dean several choice names, and Benny had to forcefully haul the omega away to keep him from trying to gouge Brady’s eyes out.

Benny told Hinley to watch his step; Hinley told Benny they’d never be able to catch him on anything.

From that point on, Hinley went crazy. He was taunting the OPA, trying to see how much he could get away with. They actually had no proof it was him—the asshole was annoyingly clever when it came to covering his tracks—but they _knew_ it was him.

Worst of all, Hinley’s crime was no longer just _attempted_ assault.

There were three separate rape charges, each occurring a week apart. While still devastating for the omegas, it was at least non-knotting, non-mating. It wouldn’t scar them permanently, but everyone at the OPA worried the day would come where Brady decided to step up his game.

Unfortunately, none of the victims could identify their rapist. He’d worn a mask and assaulted them from behind.

It was different from Hinley’s prior crimes, though. This time he entered the omega’s homes or assaulted them in private places rather than choosing whoever was present, drunk, and willing. Everything pointed to him picking his victims ahead of time.

.

“This is all my fault,” Dean groaned, slamming his forehead into the conference table. Castiel, sitting at the table next to him, patted the omega’s shoulder awkwardly.

“Dean Winchester, I don’t want to hear another word,” Jody scolded, “Of course it’s not your fault.”

“She’s right, Dean,” Cas agreed.

“Look, man,” Benny said, sitting at the table across from Dean. The omega lifted his head to look at him, scowling. “The guy’s batshit crazy, obviously. He was going to lost it eventually anyways. An’ look on the bright side—he’s getting bolder, but he’s also getting cockier. That always leads to a slip up.”

“Yeah, but everything that happens from now till we catch him is on _my_ shoulders.”

“So let’s catch him,” Castiel shrugged. Talking wasn’t going to make Dean feel better, Cas knew. Working was going to make Dean feel better. Catching the “son of a bitch,” as the omega would phrase it, was going to make Dean feel better.

Dean nodded, giving Cas a small smile, and said “Alright. Works for me.”

“Glad we’re all agreed that we should _catch the bad guy,”_ Benny chuckled, “Now can we get back to work? Based on Brady’s track record, I’m thinkin’ he’s not gonna pull anything else till this weekend, so we still have several days to try to put something together, figure out what we’re gonna do.”

.

Friday afternoon, Dean burst into the conference room with a huge grin on his face. Closing the door behind him, he held a manila folder above his head.

Bobby, Jody, Benny, and Castiel watched him dully, all exhausted and exasperated with the case.

“What the hell’s got you so cheery?” Bobby grunted when Dean didn’t immediately explain.

“I figured out how Hinley’s choosing his victims!”

“He’s _choosing_ his victims?” Benny asked, still looking unimpressed.

“Honey, I thought we agreed he’s just following random omegas home,” Jody said.

“Wrong!” Dean said, pointing at Jody. He walked over to the cork board that held all the case info and pointed to the pictures of the three victims. “What do they all have in common?”

“They’re all omegas?” Benny asked sarcastically. Dean narrowed his eyes at him.

“Alright, I'll bite,” Jody said, leaning forward to study the pictures more closely, “They’re all pretty, middle class, single omegas, and they all look to be about the same age.”

“Exactly! Same age!”

“They’re close to Hinley’s age too, right?” Cas guessed, “Did they know him?”

“Bingo! Cas got it. We didn’t notice earlier because we all assumed Hinley was choosing his victims randomly, but they’re all the same exact age. When I was looking at the first victim’s bio, I realized that she grew up in the same area as Hinley. I looked into it further and found out they _all_ went to the same elementary school.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. I visited the school and they gave me this,” Dean said, pulling an old class photo from his folder. It looked like it had been taken out of a yearbook. Bobby held out a hand and Dean passed the photo to him.

“Mrs. Pendleton’s sixth grade class,” Bobby said, reading the title at the top of the page.

“Yup. And in the picture, you’ll see all three of our victims. Plus, look at _that_ smiling face,” Dean said, pointing at the face of a very grumpy-looking boy.

“That Brady?” Bobby breathed, squinting at the photo.

“Sure is.”

“How in the _hell_ did you figure this out?” Benny asked.

“Well, I haven’t slept in three days…” Dean shrugged, “I went through pretty much everything we have on Hinley; I just got lucky.”

“I don’t know, Dean,” Bobby said, “this still seems like a stretch…”

“Well just wait; there’s more. I talked to this Mrs. Pendleton chick, and she actually still remembers Hinley, said he had a real messed up childhood. Apparently he had to repeat both kindergarten and first grade. ‘Cause of that, he was in _fourth grade_ when he presented. In sixth grade, when everyone else started presenting, Hinley already had two years of majorly repressed hormones behind him and he went all creep factor on the new omegas to the point where the teachers had to separate him during gym and recess and all that shit.”

“And it gets weirder,” Dean continued eagerly, “Casey? The first victim? She was the first one in the class to present. The second victim, Jack, was second to present. See the pattern?”

“So he’s going after omegas in his sixth grade class? Seems a little random.”

“Not quite. Don’t interrupt, Benny. See, ‘cause the third in the class to present isn’t our third victim Sara. It’s an omega named Chris. Sara was fourth. I talked to all of the victims—and Chris—and showed them the picture and they all remembered Hinley right away, too. Here’s the thing: Hinley flirted with all three victims, but not Chris. And they all turned him down. So I think he’s going after omegas that rejected him, starting from the very beginning.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Bobby grunted, “We’ve already seen that the guy can hold a grudge.”

“Exactly.”

“So who’s next on the list?”

“There are three more omegas in that class. We really have to catch him before he gets through them because unless we’re gonna interview every single omega in his middle school, we’re outta luck.”

.

They were able to get in contact with the next two omegas on Hinley’s list and insisted an OPA agent be with them at all times for their safety. Saturday morning, when they tried contacting the third omega, nobody picked up. They tried her home phone, her cell phone, nothing. They even called her next door neighbor, having her ring the omega’s doorbell because maybe she was just sleeping, or maybe she didn’t answer unknown numbers on her phone. It was better than the alternative.

According to the neighbor, the omega’s—April, her name was—car was in the driveway but nobody answered.

They had an emergency response team leave the offices right away, and then Benny, Jody, Cas, and Dean all piled into Dean’s car and left for the omega’s house themselves with Bobby in a car right behind them.

When they arrived at the house, they were met with a very grim emergency response team. Several of them stood out on the front lawn, but the house’s front door was still hanging open on one hinge from where the team had to break it down.

“I wouldn’t go up there,” One of them warned when Dean and Benny stormed up, but they were already shoving past him into the house.

Castiel and Jody were about to ask what happened when Bobby’s truck screeched to a halt behind Dean’s Impala and the director of the OPA jumped out of the vehicle, approaching them at a brisk trot. “Damn it all. Did Dean and Benny already go up there?”

Cas nodded.

“Balls,” Bobby cursed, passing a hand over his face.

“What the hell happened here, Bobby?” Jody asked.

“The team called me on our way over. Hinley mated the omega—they’re still knotted together upstairs.”

“Well shit.”

“I hear ya,” Bobby said. He frowned, expression thoughtful. “It’s not the end of the world, though. Remember Balthazar? He’s been working on this surgery—can unmate a couple from the omega’s end.”

“How the hell does that work?” Jody asked.

After Bobby explained, Cas asked, “Do Dean and Benny know about it?”

“You know, I don’t think they do. Could you go get them, Cas? I don’t want them up there right now—this has gotta be hard enough on poor April without a million federal agents lurking about. We’ll just have to wait for Hinley’s knot to go down and then decide where to go from there.”

Castiel nodded, slipping into the house.

“Where are they?” he asked one of the emergency response agents.

“Upstairs.”

Upstairs, another agent stood awkwardly in the doorway of an open bedroom. Cas heard Benny’s angry voice coming from the room but was unable to make out what the alpha was saying.

“Well it’s awfully nice of you boys to stop by,” Hinley was taunting when Cas entered the room. “But your timing’s a little inconvenient for me and my mate here.”

"You son of a bitch-"

Castiel cringed at the sight that greeted him. Hinley was naked, as was the small omega pinned beneath him. The girl was holding back sobs, her face buried in her pillow. Seeing Castiel’s expression, Hinley smirked and rolled his hips, making the omega start crying openly.

Benny growled, low and dangerous, and swore at Hinley. Shaking with rage, he took a step toward the alpha, but Cas stepped in front of him. He didn’t even blink when Benny growled at him and tried to push past. Benny had an inch or two on Castiel, but Cas was stronger.

“Downstairs, Benny,” Cas growled, “Now. Bobby’s orders.”

Benny snarled but turned on his heel, storming out of the room with a last glare at Hinley.

Dean was leaning against the wall, watching the encounter with a blank expression. He jumped when Cas put a hand on his arm, staring blankly at the alpha for a few seconds before coming back to reality. “Dean,” Castiel said slowly, holding eye contact with the omega. “Bobby wants us to wait downstairs.”

The omega just nodded once, a muscle in his jaw jumping when he glanced at Hinley, and followed Benny out the door.

“That’s a good, obedient little bitch,” Hinley called after him. "Off you go."

“ _Son of a—“_ was all Cas heard from the hallway before Dean stormed back into the room, going straight for Hinley. But if Cas was able to hold Benny back, Dean was no problem.

“ _Dean,_ ” he barked, “ _Downstairs.”_

Growling at Cas and then Hinley, Dean left with a final defiant glare.

“Watson,” Castiel said to the OPA agent by the door while Dean was on his way out, “Wait outside the room, call for us when Hinley’s knot goes down. Don't leave him alone with April.”

Finally, Castiel turned toward the knotted couple. He completely ignored Hinley and crouched beside the bed, addressing the omega gently, “April, I know it’s hard to believe right now, but everything is going to be okay.” Hinley snorted. If April understood what he was saying, she didn’t acknowledge it. “We’re here to help you, and I promise that we will. As for you,” Cas said, his tone hardening as he addressed the alpha, “I wouldn’t be so confident, if I were you.”

Hinley’s smirk faded a little, a confused frown taking over his features, but before he could ask what Cas meant the agent was out the door and down the stairs.

He found Bobby, Benny, Jody, and Dean waiting in the kitchen. Benny was pacing angrily, but Bobby and Jody looked relatively calm. Dean didn’t even seem to be present, staring out the window with a steely frown on his face.

“That bastard,” Benny growled. “He knew we were onto him and he mated her so we couldn’t arrest him.”

“Why can’t we arrest him?” Castiel asked, tilting his head to the side.

“It would kill April. Not literally, but pretty much. A recently mated omega can’t bear to be away from their alpha for more than a few hours, let alone long-term,” Jody explained.

“Oh. Of course,” Castiel said, not even really hearing Jody. He was busy watching Dean with concern. The omega was breathing heavily, and Cas was close enough to him to pick up on the distress slipping into his scent.

As he watched, the omega growled and slammed his fist onto the counter, storming out onto the front lawn without a second glance.

Nobody even reacted to Dean’s departure.

“Unless she opts for the surgery, but it’s her choice,” Bobby said thoughtfully, looking at the door Dean had just stormed out through. “Can I talk to you in the hallway, Novak?”

“Of course,” Castiel frowned, following Bobby into the foyer.

“I need you to go check on Dean,” Bobby said once they were far enough away that Benny and Jody couldn’t hear.

“Okay—“

“No, I need you to listen. Dean always takes cases like this hard, and even _I_ don’t know why. But I do know that Dean’s out there blaming himself for all this. An’ for some reason he seems to like you, so maybe you’ll be able to talk some sense into the idjit.”

“I’ll do my best, Bobby.”

“I know you will, son,” Bobby said, giving Castiel a knowing look. “Be stern with ‘im if you need to. Sometimes when he gets like this it’s all that’ll get through to him.”

“Does he get like this often?” Castiel frowned.

“Often enough for it to be concerning. In fact, just get him out of here, will you? We can handle everything here, and Dean’s no good to anyone when he gets in these moods. Make him take the day off.”

Bobby sent Castiel off with a final pat on the back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little rape/non-con warning for this chapter too, but not as bad as the last one. 
> 
> We finally find out about Dean's mysterious past! Yay! (About time, am I right?)

Castiel almost tripped over Dean, who was sitting on the front doorstep and staring out at nothing in particular. Cas sat beside him, the omega not acknowledging his presence.

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Castiel said after a minute of sitting next to the omega in silence. Dean finally looked at Castiel, studying the alpha’s face.

“It kind of is, though,” the omega shrugged. The gesture was casual, but Dean’s voice shook when he spoke and he looked suspiciously close to crying. The strong omega was more vulnerable than Castiel had ever seen him. “If I hadn’t blown my cover, or if I had just figured out Hinley’s pattern sooner—“

“You can’t blame yourself for that, Dean! You went _three days_ without sleep, you did everything you could and now thanks to you we caught Hinley before he could hurt anyone else—“

“Not April!” Dean shouted, “We weren’t fast enough to save April!”

Castiel took a deep breath. He reached out, taking Dean’s hand in his own, and started rubbing soothing circles into the omega’s soft skin, “You can’t save everyone, my friend,” he said seriously, not breaking eye contact with Dean.

Dean dropped his eyes, though, and stared at his hand in Castiel’s. He started to take a deep breath but then tore his hand away, standing and turning on the alpha. “You can’t just _say_ shit like that, Cas! I mean, if the agent that saved _me_ had showed up just _ten seconds later,_ I’d be—“

Castiel’s mouth fell open, and he knew he was gaping up at the omega. Dean’s expression mirrored his own, green eyes wide and shocked at what he’d let slip.

“You’d be _what_ , Dean?” Cas pushed, keeping his voice low and gentle.

Dean looked away and took a deep, steadying breath. “I would’ve been where April is now,” he admitted, “Who knows where I’d be today.”

“Oh, Dean,” Castiel breathed, standing and pulling the omega into a bone-crushing hug. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

“ _Caasss,_ ” Dean whined, trying to push the alpha away. He didn’t budge. “I’m _fine_ , just let go!”

“Don’t you fight me on this, Dean Winchester,” Cas half-growled into the omega’s ear, holding him tighter. “I’m not letting go until you hug me back.”

After a brief struggle Dean finally sighed and returned the hug, even going so far as to bury his face in the alpha’s neck. After a minute of standing like that Castiel started relaxing his arms, but Dean actually pulled him closer and whined out a protest. “Just a lil’ but longer,” he grumbled into Castiel’s neck.

“As long as you need, Dean,” Cas said, rubbing up and down Dean’s back soothingly, “But you have to know that this is not your fault. Nobody is to blame but Hinley, and without you we might not have ever caught him, do you understand?”

Dean nodded and finally pulled away.

“Good,” Castiel said, looking away while Dean wiped the tears from his eyes. “And this isn’t the end for April, you should know. Balthazar’s developed a surgery that can undo a mating bond.”

“What?” Dean asked, studying Cas with wide eyes, “Really?”

“Yes,” Castiel said with a gentle smile. “He only has it figured out for the omega’s side. He can make it so it’s like April was never mated, but the connection will still exist on Hinley’s side. Which, you should know, will cause him a tremendous amount of pain. But April will have nothing to worry about as Hinley is now facing a life sentence.”

Dean beamed. “Oh. Awesome. I didn’t know that.”

Castiel just smiled at him.

“And uh, could you not say anything to anyone about that thing I just mentioned? I’ve never actually told anyone, and…”

“I won’t say anything,” Castiel promised, “Would you like to get lunch with me?”

Dean blinked at him, then at April’s house. “Uh, now? What about—“

“Bobby says they can handle it. He wants you to take the rest of the day off.”

Dean made a face. “I can handle—“

“I know you can. We all do,” Cas said, remembering what Bobby said about getting authoritative if he needed to, “But the fact remains that you’ve hardly slept in four days and there’s not much left to be done with this case anyways. Now, are you going to drive or should I?”

“I’m driving. You haven’t earned Baby-driving privileges yet.”

Cas laughed, just glad Dean was acting like himself again, and climbed into the passenger seat of the Impala. “So where are we going?”

“Have you been to the Roadhouse?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Then that’s where we’re going. They have awesome burgers. Bobby’s mate Ellen owns it, actually. It’s pretty close to here.”

 

Dean pulled into the parking lot of a somewhat derelict-looking building outside of town. Inside was dimly-lit and cozy, and the majority of the patrons seemed to be the trucker-type, all decked out in baseball caps and plaid.

The waitress waved at Dean and told him to sit wherever. She started at Castiel with open curiosity as Dean led him further into the restaurant/bar.

 

“Would you like to talk about it?” Castiel asked once they were seated in a corner booth and the waitress had taken their orders.

“Talk about what?” Dean asked, not quite meeting Castiel’s eyes.

“What you told me back at April’s. About how—“

“Yeah, I got it,” Dean cut him off, fiddling with the silverware on the table in front of him, “I don’t know, Cas.”

“I don’t want you to feel I’m pressuring you. I just can’t imagine living with something like that and never telling _anyone_ —“

“His name was Alastair.”

“His? Whose? Oh. _Oh._ ”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Yeah,” he chuckled, “You done interrupting now, Cas?”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“I might as well start from the beginning, huh? I was born in Lawrence, Kansas- I mean, that part you already knew- and I lived there with my parents and brother until a little after I presented. Until I ran away. Long story short, I ran away ‘cause this asshole alpha Alastair got it into his head that he owned me or some shit, and eventually he got fed up with my ‘bad attitude,’ as he called it, and he…um, he tried to rape me. Well technically I guess he succeeded, he just wasn’t able to knot me before this OPA agent stepped in and saved me.”

Dean looked up as he finished and chuckled at Castiel’s horrified expression. Cas wasn’t sure which was worse: the story Dean was telling or the casual way he was telling it.

“How—I don’t—where were you that the agent was able to find you?”

“Behind the grocery story by my house.”

Castiel’s jaw dropped. “ _What?_ Nobody else was around to help sooner?”

“Oh, there were people around; they just didn’t care. As far as they were concerned, I _was_ Alastair’s property.”

Cas frowned, head tilting and eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “I don’t—“

“Kansas still has arranged marriage laws. Alastair was my fiancé.”

“Oh. Oh my God, that’s _horrific_. How old were you?”

“Thirteen,” Dean said, again laughing bitterly at Castiel’s expression, “But since Alastair and I were officially engaged, Rufus—the OPA agent—really stuck his neck out by saving me. And he knew that if I just went home, my dad could—and would—still make me mate with Alastair, so he gave me all the cash he had on him and told me to find Bobby in Sioux Falls. So I ran.”

“Dean, I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have had to go through any of that,” Cas said, reaching across the table to cover Dean’s hand with his own. Unfortunately, that was when the waitress arrived with their food and Dean quickly snatched his hand away.

“So Bobby doesn’t know any of this?” Cas asked once the waitress was gone.

“Nah. Rufus called Bobby, telling him to expect me, but I begged him not to give Bobby the details. I just wanted to leave it behind me, you know?”

“Understandable. Your family’s still alive, then?”

“Yeah. Sorry I kinda lied to you earlier when I said I didn’t have any family. It’s just so complicated and everything…”

“Don’t apologize; I completely understand. I imagine you’re not on speaking terms with any of them?”

“I am with Sammy—my brother. I tried to keep an eye on him while I was growing up, so the second Sam left home I called him, and we’ve been in contact ever since. He’s going to school in California—Stanford, actually. The kid’s a freaking genius—so I’m able to visit him all the time. I just can’t ever go back to Kansas.”

“Because then you’d be subject to its laws?”

“Yeah. Technically, my dad or Alastair could legally track me down and drag me back to Kansas.”

“What? Seriously? That’s a law?”

“Right?! It’s totally fucked up. So it’s a good thing they don’t even know I’m alive.”

Castiel’s eyebrows shot up.

“My dad’s a stubborn old bastard—well, so is Alastair, but my dad’s _real_ good at hunting people down- he's a detective. He would’ve found me in days. When I explained this to Rufus, he called in some favors and helped me fake my own death,” Dean finished matter-of-factly. “The only bad thing about that is my mom thinks I’m dead, too. She never did anything wrong—except from mating my asshole dad in the first place—but I can’t even try contacting her ‘cause if my dad _ever_ found out I’m alive…” Dean trailed off, shuddering dramatically. “I just can’t risk it.”

“Even if you told him Alastair tried _raping_ you?” Castiel asked, astounded.

“You can’t rape your own property, Cas,” Dean shrugged.

“Dean!”

Dean laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. “ _I_ don’t think that, obviously, but it’s what my dad would say.”

“That’s terrible,” Castiel breathed.

“Tell me about it,” Dean agreed, popping a French fry into his mouth. “You know, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

Castiel cocked his head to the side. “Do you regret having done so?”

“No,” Dean said simply, shrugging again. “But Bobby’s basically my _father_ and I wouldn’t ever tell him any of this shit.”

“We have a very different relationship than you and Bobby.”

“Yeah,” Dean said, studying Castiel with an intensity the alpha couldn’t decipher. “How come you’re not already mated, Cas?”

“What?” the alpha asked, caught off guard by the question. “I haven’t really—“

“You said you had a girlfriend in college, but that must’ve been a while ago.”

“I—“ Cas paused, narrowing his eyes at Dean. “Are you calling me old?”

Dean laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”

”I’m barely older than you,” Cas pouted, taking a bite out of his burger. When he finished chewing, he said, “To answer your question, I don’t know. I’ve just been focused on work, I suppose. And they would have to be someone _really_ special. What about you, Dean? You’re a _reasonably_ attractive omega. Why don’t you have a mate?”

Dean laughed and shook his head. “Reasonably, huh? I don't have a mate ’cause I don’t ever plan on mating.”

“Ever? Why not?” Cas asked with a frown. “Childhood trauma aside.”

“I’m happy _now,_ and I’ve never met a happily mated couple.”

“I know plenty of happily mated couples!” Castiel argued. “Benny and Andrea—“

“Andrea’s a beta. I mean alpha-omega relationships. You show me one of those that’s not based on a power play and I might change my mind.”

Cas had an answer ready. “My sister Anna. She’s happily mated to an alpha named Alek.”

“How long have they been mated?”

“Going on seven years.”

“And you’re sure she’s happy?”

“Absolutely. I know her better than anyone. And Alek treats her very well. They’re equals—no power play.”

“Hmm. I’d have to meet them. Maybe she’s just hiding how unhappy she is from you ‘cause you’re her protective alpha brother.”

“Maybe you’re just jaded because you’ve been working for the OPA too long,” Castiel fired back, making Dean throw his head back in laughter.

“It’s possible,” he admitted.

“Any dessert for you two?” the waitress asked, sneaking up on them and sweeping their empty plates away.

“I’ll have a slice of apple pie,” Cas said, sitting back in his seat.

Dean grinned at him. “Same for me,” he said to the waitress.

When she was gone, Dean mumbled something that sounded like “knew there was a reason I liked you.” But Castiel wasn’t sure.

“What was that, Dean?” he asked, smirking at the omega.

“Nothin’. Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier—that’s not my only reason for not mating. It just doesn’t go well with the job—I can help much more by being unmated, you know?”

“I suppose. But aren’t you interested at all? In mating, I mean?”

Dean shrugged. “I take these suppressants—they’re like, _super_ strength. They kinda take away all sexual urges or whatever I might have regarding alphas, so I’m actually good.”

“Oh,” Cas nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show. “I can see how that would help you with your work.”

It wasn’t their waitress that returned with the pie, it was a slightly older beta woman. She had brown hair, and somehow simultaneously had a stern expression and a kind smile. “Didn’t think you could stop by without saying hi, did you Winchester?” she asked.

“Hey, Ellen,” Dean said, standing from the booth to hug the woman. “Of course I was gonna say hi.”

“Sure you were. Who’s your friend?” she asked, turning a stern gaze on Castiel. She seemed curious, too.

“This is Cas. I’m sure Bobby’s mentioned him.”

“Sure,” she said, shaking Castiel’s hand. “The new agent down at the OPA. Pleasure—I’m Ellen, Bobby’s mate.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Cas smiled at her. This was Dean’s surrogate mother, essentially; he wanted to make a good impression.

“Huh. He’s cute, Dean. Don’t forget—next Friday’s Jo’s birthday and you’re on cake duty. I’ll leave you and Cas to enjoy your pie,” she finished, kissing Dean on the cheek before heading back into the kitchen.

“She seems nice,” Cas said around a mouthful of pie as Dean sat back down.

Dean snorted. “Good pie, huh?”

Cas nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, but if you think _this_ is good, you should try my brother Gabriel’s pie. He owns a bakery,” Cas explained. “His pies are the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“I do love a good pie,” Dean smiled. “You’ll have to take me there sometime—“ Dean cut off when his phone suddenly started ringing. He pulled it out, frowning at the screen. “Hang on, Cas. It’s Charlie.”

He answered the phone, and Charlie launched into some long-winded explanation. Castiel could hear her from across the booth, and it sounded like the beta girl was speaking a mile a minute.

“Wait, my _what_ showed up at the OPA?” Dean asked, expression growing incredulous. “Charlie, that’s impossible, he—uh, yeah, that _does_ sound like him, but he’s— _you gave him my address?_ Charlie, what part of that sounds like a good idea to you?—I just don’t see how that’s possible! Uh, yeah….uh huh. Okay, well if you gave a stalker or a serial killer my address, I swear to God—whatever. Bye.”

Dean hung up, but sat staring down at his phone for a minute.

“Dean?” Cas finally pressed, his mind instantly jumping to the worst—that it was Dean’s father, or Alastair, come to bring him back to Kansas.

Dean frowned at him. “Apparently,” he began, “My _brother_ is waiting for me at my apartment.”

“Your brother…that lives in California?”

“The very same.”

Cas frowned. “How?”

“Beats the hell out of me, dude. Would you…um, you mind coming back with me? Just in case it’s…not Sam?”

The unspoken meaning behind Dean’s question hung in the air between him, and Castiel—of course—found himself nodding. “Let’s go.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EVERYONE ships it.

“Okay. Plan of action if it’s not Sam?” Dean asked nervously as they stepped into the rickety old elevator in Dean’s apartment building.

“I'll distract the imposter wile you run,” Cas said seriously, hoping to pull a laugh out of the uncharacteristically tense omega.

To his delight he succeeded and Dean laughed, despite the situation. “Sure, Cas. How’re you thinkin’ you’re gonna distract this ‘imposter’?”

“I was going to wing it.”

“Genius,” Dean snorted, “Glad to know you’ve got my back. The description Charlie gave me really did sound like it could be Sam, though.”

The elevator doors opened and Dean cautiously turned the corner, Castiel trailing just behind him.

The alpha sitting outside Dean’s door, when Castiel got a good look at him, didn’t strike him as particularly threatening. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, bent over a book. A long mop of brown hair hid his face.

“What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing here?” Dean asked, crossing his arms.

The alpha looked up, completely undeterred by Dean’s tone and a bright grin lighting up his face when he saw Dean. “Hey!”

Still, he looked more like an excited puppy than anything harmful. Even his scent was mild for an alpha’s, and similar enough to Dean’s that the relation was obvious. He was _tall_ though, Cas saw when the alpha stood and stretched.

Cas looked to Dean for instruction and saw that the omega was smiling.

He just stood to one side awkwardly as Dean ran and jumped into the alpha’s arms for a hug, making the alpha let out an “oof” and fall back against the door. “Get off, jerk!” he laughed.

“I’ll take it this _is_ Sam, then?” Castiel clarified, hesitant to break up the apparently happy reunion.

“Uh, yeah,” the alpha—Sam—said, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. Sniffing the air with a slight frown, he held out a hand for Cas to shake.  “Who’re you?” he asked, obviously sizing Cas up.

Cas was careful not to mirror Sam’s defensive posturing—he was just being protective of his brother. Cas had done the same when Anna introduced him to her then not-yet-mate Alek. Instead, he remained relaxed and non-threatening when he shook the younger alpha’s hand. “Castiel Novak.”

“Oh, _Cas_? Yeah, Dean’s mentioned you,” Sam said, backing down a little. But just a little.

Castiel tilted his head curiously, looking at the book in Sam’s hand. “A Tale for the Time Being?”

“Oh,” Sam said, glancing down at the book in surprise. “Uh, yeah, it’s this book I’m reading for a Brit lit class. It’s about—“

“I know what it’s about,” Castiel interrupted, smiling, “I’ve read it; I’ve just never met anyone else who has. How are you liking it?”

“I love it. This is actually my second time reading it because there’s just so much information.”

“I know! When I first picked it up, I wasn’t expecting to have to spend hours researching quantum physics—“

“Alright,” Dean chuckled, looking between the two of them smugly, (he _so_ knew they would get along. Not that he ever really expected them to meet). “You two nerds can stay out here and chat, but I’m going inside.”

Sam and Cas trailed behind him, still talking about their book.

“You said it’s for a British Literature class?” Cas was asking, “But the author’s Canadian, is she not?”

“Yeah, but it won this big British award thing,” Sam shrugged.

“Ah. What’s your major?”

“English with a concentration in writing. But I’m doing Pre-law.”

Cas nodded. “I was a literature major.”

“I thought you majored in Omega Rights or whatever,” Dean said.

“That was my minor.”

“That’s _my_ minor!” Sam laughed.

“Ugh, Dean groaned, disappearing into the kitchen, “I’m surrounded by nerds. Speaking of,” Dean said, appearing the doorway and scowling at Sam. “How the hell did you find me? More importantly, didn’t I tell you not to _ever_ look for me?”

“It wasn’t even my fault, okay? And  didn’t look for you! I had an interview downtown for a summer internship this morning, and I was reading the paper while I was waiting for them to call me in and there was article about how the OPA took down friggin’ _Dick Roman_ and how they were led by an omega agent named _Dean Winchester._ ”

“Really? They specified that I’m an omega? Is that even necessary?” Dean asked, looking at Cas and pursing his lips. Cas cringed sympathetically.

“Dean! You’re a _federal agent_? Way to tell _your brother_ , man.”

“I knew you’d freak,” Dean rolled his eyes, “Which, really? Your first impulse was to visit my _work?_ How is that a good idea? You couldn’t, I don’t know, _call me_?”

“I’ll admit that was poorly planned,” Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck in a very Dean-like gesture that made Cas smile to himself. “I just wanted to surprise you.”

Dean softened at that, shaking his head with a fond smile.

“So you really took down a whole omega trafficking ring?”

“With a little help from FBI agent Castiel Novak,” Dean said, smiling at Cas.

“You’re FBI?” Sam asked excitedly.

“Formerly. Your brother talked me into transferring to the OPA.”

“I didn’t talk you into _shit_ ,” Dean laughed. “You hated your old job and I just told you the OPA had an opening.”

“His argument was very compelling,” Cas nodded at Sam, making the younger alpha laugh. “Since we have established that this is indeed Sam, I’ll leave the two of you to catch up.”

“You don’t have to,” Dean said, “And hey, you don’t even have a ride.”

“I know how to call a cab, Dean, and I insist. Maybe I’ll take a page out of your book and call up my own brother. Sam, it was a pleasure to meet you, and Dean, I’ll see you at work on Monday. _Get some sleep._ ”

“Yes, _sir,”_ Dean rolled his eyes, waving as Cas pulled the door shut behind him.

“Alright, I like him,” Sam admitted once Cas was gone.

“I knew you would.”

“So you’re sure you two aren’t—“

“Positive.”

“You could tell me, you know. I wouldn’t freak or anything, promise.”

“Sam! We’re not!”

“Okay, okay! I was just thinking because you feel like you need to hide so much—“

“What? What am I hiding?”

“Uh, your job?” Sam suggested, pulling out one of his sourest bitch faces. “That’s kind of a big one. And you never even mentioned me to Charlie! I had to show her my ID and list your top five favorite movies to get her to believe you really have a brother.”

“So I’m private about my personal life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But you apparently told Cas about me even though you’ve known Charlie much longer, so what’s so different about him?” Sam asked. He had this glint in his eye he used to get when they were about to break into a full-out prank war, and Dean didn’t like it.

“Nothing! Shut up about Cas, will you? How long are you in town?”

Sam laughed. “I fly back Monday morning.”

“Well I have the rest of the day off; whataya say I show you around town?”

“Yeah! That’s be awesome! I really wanted to go to the Art Institute—“

“That the one they go to in Ferris Bueller?”

Sam snorted. “Uh, yeah. It is.”

“You _would_ wanna go look at paintings. Fine. But we also have to see the Bean, and there’s this funny diner where the waiters insult you all night—“

“Why the hell—“

“It’s funny,” Dean insisted, dragging Sam out the door, “And I bet you a _million dollars_ they make fun of your hair.”

 

.

.

“So how’s Dean?” Gabriel teased, dropping in the seat next to Anna. He rested his head in his hands, blinking dreamily at Cas from under his eyelashes. “Good?”

They were all seated at a table in Gabriel’s bakery, Gabriel having closed up early to chat with Cas and Anna. It was a ridiculously tiny building crammed between two larger stores, but it was comfortable and the mouthwatering smell coming from the kitchen never failed to make Castiel’s mouth water.

“Ooh, who’s Dean?” Anna asked excitedly, looking at Castiel with wide eyes, “Did I miss something?”

“Dean’s the hot young omega at Cassie’s new job. They’re BFF’s with benefits.”

“There are no benefits,” Cas corrected sternly. He looked at Anna, “He’s a _colleague._ That’s all. Nothing more.”

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Anna chimed, making Gabriel snort loudly. Cas just glared at her. “For real, Castiel. Tell me what’s up. You’ve hardly told me anything about the people at your new job, and I’m offended _Gabriel_ seems to know more than me.”

“Hey!”

“You’re right, Anna. I don’t know what I was thinking, confiding in Gabriel before you.”

“ _Hey!”_

“So, have you made any new friends?” she asked. They both completely ignored Gabriel, who was pouting dramatically.

Castiel smiled at his sister. “I have, believe it or not.”

“We don’t,” Gabe interjected.

“I’ve made quite a few. There’s Benny, a large mated alpha with a southern accent, and Charlie—she’s the IT girl, and she’s taught me more about pop culture in the last two months than I’ve learned all my life so far. I like to think my boss, Bobby, is fond of me as well, though he’s somewhat hard to read.”

“ _And?_ ” Anna pushed, a small smile on her lips. Clearly, she just wanted to hear more about Dean. Once her curiosity was invoked, it was almost impossible to distract her.

“And there’s Dean,” Cas sighed in defeat.

“Oh, tell her about how you watch movies at his house! Or tell her about how you train together every morning!”

Anna grinned at Cas.

“Charlie also goes to movie night, and Benny’s always invited as well. It’s not just me and Dean. It’s not always at his house, either. We switch off,” Cas said, glaring at Gabe. “And we don’t spar _every morning._ Just twice a week.”

“Alright, sweetie,” Anna laughed, placing her smaller hand on top of Castiel’s on the table. “Just ignore Gabriel. I believe that you and Dean are just friends. What’s he like?”

“He’s strong,” Cas said, blurting the first adjective that came to mind, “mentally and emotionally. Though he’s physically strong for an omega too, that’s not what I meant. He’s very kind, and he’s really passionate about his job because he _loves_ helping people. He’s funny, and while he makes a lot of references I don’t understand he always takes the time to explain it to me.”

Cas was on a roll now, so he missed the sly smile Anna and Gabriel shared.

“He’s smart, but I don’t think he thinks he is and that makes me sad. He’s strangely obsessed with his car, but in his defense it really _is_ a nice car, and—“

“What does he look like?” Gabriel asked, holding back a giggle. Cas didn’t even notice.

The alpha shook his head. “I couldn’t do him justice. He’s _gorgeous._ He’s tall—maybe about an inch taller than me. His jaw looks like it’s been chiseled by the gods and he has these perfect, full, pink lips, and his nose is a little crooked but it works for him and it’s covered in thousands of freckles and his eyes are big and the lovelies shade of jade green, and— _oh._ Oh, no.”

“Yeah, you’re _totally_ just friends,” Gabriel snorted.

Cas buried his face in his hands, repeating “oh no” to himself over and over.

“Um…Castiel? What’s wrong?” Anna asked. She shared a concerned look with Gabriel, which again, Cas didn’t see because we was collapsing onto the table top, still mumbling to himself.

“I think I’m in love with Dean,” Cas mumbled into his arms.

Anna giggled in surprise. “Oh.”

“Wow. You’re even more pathetic than I initially suspected,” Gabriel said thoughtfully, yelping when Anna hit him.

“Why is that an ‘oh no,’ Castiel? Isn’t this good?”

Cas shook his head, finally lifting his head. “Dean doesn’t want to mate. _Ever._ And Benny warned me that alphas _always_ fall in love with Dean only to get rejected. I’m just one of the many,” Cas groaned, again slamming his forehead down onto the table. “He tried warning me. Why didn’t I listen?”

“Chin up, buck-o. You’re a catch. Twenty bucks says Dean comes around and you end up mating and having dozens of beautiful green-eyed, messy dark-haired children with freckles.”

Cas raised his head, conveying with one look how unamused he was.

“Oh my gosh, that is too cute!” Anna laughed, ignoring Castiel, “I would be godmother, right?”

“No way! Cas likes me better. _I’m_ the godfather to his future children.”

“ _Absolutely_ not,” Castiel snorted.

“Oh, come on, Castiel! I can be responsible!”

“I’ve yet to see that. Can we please talk about something other than my nonexistent children?”

“Fine. But only because we’ve made you so distressed,” Anna said, smiling sweetly. “Has mom called you about her upcoming fundraiser yet?”

“That’s supposed to make him _less_ distressed?” Gabriel asked.

“Bad call, Anna,” Cas said with a chuckle, agreeing with his older brother.

“Oh, quit being babies. You two have it easy—Naomi likes _you._ ”

“She has a point,” Gabriel nodded at Cas.

“You’re damn right I do. Anyways, attendance is mandatory for all Novaks, but Alek and I are trying to come up with an excuse.”

“Ugh. I bet Lucifer doesn’t have to go,” Cas complained.

“No, but you know he will anyways. Any chance he can get to fuck with mom or Michael he’ll take," Gabriel grinned, shaking his head wistfully.

“That’s the one amusing thing that comes from these fundraisers,” Cas chuckled.

"Right? Do you ever just think about rebelling like he did? Just saying a big 'fuck you' to mom and Michael and go off on our own."

"It would be nice," Castiel admitted, "But when it came to it, I don't think I'd be able to do it. When's the fundraiser?”

“This Wednesday.”

“Oh,” Cas said, deflating. “That’s when Dean, Charlie, and I have our movie nights.”

“Well mom’s gonna flip shit if you don’t go. You’re like the golden child—not counting Michael, but I’m still not convinced he’s not an android,” Gabriel said thoughtfully.

“I know. I’ll just have to tell them I can’t make it.”

“We have to dress up, I’m guessing?” Gabriel asked with a sigh.

“Of course. When don’t we?”

“It doesn’t hurt to ask. Did she specifically say, ‘You all have to dress up’? Because if not, I’m seeing a loophole. Who’s with me? Cas?”

“Do you _enjoy_ living, Gabriel?” Cas asked sarcastically.

They talked for a while longer, mostly complaining about Naomi and her monthly _mandatory_ fundraisers and galas and family dinners. When Gabriel had to leave to pick his daughter up from school, Anna and Castiel decided to head home.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Anna asked when they’d reached their respective cars.

Cas nodded, looking down at his shoes. “Yes. Thank you for asking, but I’ll be just fine.”

“What do you think you’re going to do?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Castiel said, looking at Anna like she was crazy. “I’m not going to tell him, if that’s what you’re implying. I don’t have a death wish.”

Anna sighed. “I really don’t think—“

“Well it was nice talking to you, Anna; we should do this again sometime, okay, bye,” Cas said quickly, getting into his car before Anna could argue more.

 

.

.

Charlie flipped through Netflix, checking to see if they’d added anything new. “You gave Cas my address, right? We haven’t had a movie night with him at my place yet,” she shouted, addressing Dean, who was in the kitchen making popcorn.

“I’m right behind you, ya idjit,” he grumbled. Charlie was sprawled out on the couch, leaving Dean nowhere to sit. He shrugged to himself, perching on the armrest by Charlie’s feet.

“Okay, _Bobby_.”

Dean laughed, popping an entire handful of popcorn into his mouth. “Cas isn’t coming,” he said around his mouthful of food.

“What?!” Charlie asked, sitting up. She flailed a little with the movement, accidentally kicking the bowl in Dean’s hand and sending popcorn flying everywhere.

“I hate you so much sometimes,” Dean whined, looking sadly at the popcorn bowl that now lay face down on the carpet. “You’re cleaning that up.”

“That’s fair. How come Cas isn’t coming?”

“Dunno. Some family thing or something. He didn’t really explain.”

“Aw, man. I was thinking we could introduce him to the Marvel Universe tonight. Or Harry Potter! Oh my God, he’s probably never seen Harry Potter!”

Dean shrugged.

“Oh, well,” Charlie continued, “Next week, then. Our young pupil has been doing so well, I guess he deserves a week off. Hey, they just re-added Mean Girls to Netflix. How about we watch that?”

“No way. No chick flicks.”

“It’s my apartment; I should get to choose the movie.”

“You can choose the movie, but if it’s Mean Girls you’re watching it alone.”

“Fine! Dr. Sexy marathon it is.”

“That’s more like it,” Dean said, smiling, “I’m going to make more popcorn—when I get back, try to control yourself, would you?”

 

When Dean walked back into the living room with his new bowl of popcorn, he found the TV off and Charlie grinning at him expectantly.

“Um.”

“Before we start,” she said, going for nonchalance and failing miserably, “I thought we could catch up a little. You know, chat. It’s been so long since we just sat and talked about our _lives,_ you know what I’m saying?”

“Not really, but okay…” Dean said, narrowing his eyes at the beta suspiciously. When Charlie patted the couch next to her, he reluctantly sat down, holding his popcorn bowl to his chest.

“So your bother’s _super_ cute,” Charlie began cheerily.

Dean relaxed a little, smiling brightly. “Yeah, he is. He’s really great.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother. Bobby didn’t either—yeah, sorry. I kind mentioned it to him. I didn’t know it was a secret!”

“Eh, s’okay. It’s not really a secret, I guess. He lives out in California, and he’d never visited ‘till now. That’s the only reason I haven’t mentioned it before.”

“Huh. He back home now?”

“Yeah, he left Monday. He—“

“So what’s the deal with you and Cas?” Charlie interrupted.

Dean blinked at her, expression blank. “What do you mean what’s the deal with me and Cas?”

“I _mean_ , it’s been two months of endless flirting, eye-fucking, and not-so-casual casual touches and you’re still not together! What gives?”

“We do _not_ flirt!” Dean gasped, looking completely horrified.

“Oh my God, please tell me you’re joking. When Cas is around, you turn into this hyperactive puppy that smiles a lot and bats his eyelashes all the time.”

If possible, Dean looked even more scandalized. “I have never _batted my eyelashes_ in my life!”

“You are so full of shit, Winchester!” Charlie laughed. “You’re in love with Cas and you just don’t wanna admit it! Oh! Or you’re secretly dating. ‘Cause honestly, I don’t believe you could flirt _that much_ and not realize it.”

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Stop laughing; I’m serious! I honestly haven’t even thought of him in that way.”

“Oh, sure you haven’t. So you’re saying you’ve never noticed how hot he is?”

“I mean, I guess he’s kinda—“

“More than _kinda!_ Castiel is _smokin’_ hot, and don’t even try to tell me he’s not your type.”

“What?” Dean laughed, “What’s my type? I don’t even have a type!”

“Come on. Messy dark hair. Bright blue eyes. A voice like sex and a ‘come-hither’ stare—you eat that shit up, don’t even try to deny it. I’ve seen your past hookups and there are some common factors. And while Cas may _seem_ like an innocent little flower by day, you and I know what a dominant, crazed, sex god he probably is in bed.”

“I don’t know that!” Dean shouted, clapping his hands over his ears. “I do _not_ know that!”

“All alphas are, honey,” Charlie explained, knowing Dean could still hear her, “No matter how sweet and gentle they look on the outside.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Yuh-huh! How many alphas have _you_ slept with, Winchester?”

“Shut up.”

“Exactly. So I’m the expert here.”

“Okay. _One_ alpha chick in high school doesn’t make you an expert, Charlie.”

“It’s _two_ now, thank you very much.”

“Since when?”

“Remember that Gilda girl I met online? We’re totally dating now. And it’s awesome. But we can talk about me after we’re done talking about you. Point is, now that I’m happily dating it’s time to figure out what’s going on with your pathetic, eternally single ass.”

“Don’t sugar coat it,” Dean grumbled.

“Seriously, what’s the deal? And now you can’t use your usual, ‘there are no good alphas’ excuse because Cas is literally perfect.”

“I am so _not_ discussing with this with you,” Dean said, crossing his arms stubbornly. He uncrossed them and turned his body so he was facing Charlie, “But if I _was,_ I could still come up with a million reasons why me and Cas wouldn’t work. One, he _definitely_ doesn’t think about me like that. There are things he knows about me that just…just trust me. He couldn’t possibly think of me like that. Two, he deserves way better anyways.”

Charlie opened her mouth to argue, but Dean kept going.

“Three, Bobby would never be cool with an inter-office romance thing.”

“There are no rules against it.”

“Shut up; I wasn’t finished. Four, me being mated means I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the stuff I currently do for the OPA.”

“So someone else will take over the undercover stuff,” Charlie scoffed.

“Charlie! Seriously, I don’t want to talk about this.”

Okay, Charlie realized she might’ve pushed Dean a little too far. The omega actually got surprisingly scary when he was mad. Right now he was just mildly annoyed, but she’d be wise to let it go. “Okay, fine. I’ll drop it. But you know what I think? I think your excuses are crap and you’re just being a masochistic little moron. And I also want to say that while I won’t mention this again, I still ship it.”

Dean groaned. “Unbelievable. Can we please just watch Dr. Sexy now?”

Charlie tossed Dean the remote, settling back into the couch. She was right; she knew she was. It was going to happen, eventually. If Dean ever got his shit together and if Cas ever got up the courage to do something about this.

 

.

.

Dean settled back against the warm body behind him. He opened his eyes, the first thing he saw the bright green numbers on his alarm clock. 4:00. He had to get up for work in half an hour. What was it that woke him up in the first place?

He twisted, looking at the man sleeping behind him. When did that happen?

The alpha opened his eyes and smiled at Dean, his eyes wrinkling around the edges. Suddenly Dean was on his back, the alpha’s heavy weight pinning him down. “Fuck,” he said, letting his eyes flutter shut.

He opened his eyes to a sea of blue, blue eyes so bright they seemed to glow in the dim light of Dean’s bedroom. “Cas.”

Castiel rumbled an acknowledgment, his voice even lower and rougher than usual, and ducked his head to plant open-mouthed kisses along Dean’s jawline. Dean moaned, throwing his head back to expose more of his neck to the alpha.

“Dean,” Cas breathed against Dean’s neck, nipping and biting and sucking in turn, all while his long, deft fingers ran gently up and down Dean’s sides.

“What’re you doing?” Dean asked, really only half caring about the answer. A small part of his mind was yelling at him, telling him he should be freaking out or punching Cas in the face, but his body told his mind to shut the hell up.

Cas didn’t answer, just moved his mouth down Dean’s body, biting at his collar bone, licking at his tattoo. Dean yelped in surprise when, suddenly, Castiel’s lips were on his nipple. He arched up into the alpha’s mouth, his back leaving the mattress.

Cas growled, lifting his head and moving to pull Dean into a rough kiss, one hand gripping Dean’s hair and the other pulling his legs apart. Dean moved with him, wrapping his thighs tightly around the alpha’s side—locking his ankles together behind Castiel’s back—and pulling the alpha closer.

They stayed like that for a while, Cas rocking his hips into Dean’s with tiny movements, breathing each other in. Then Dean gasped when Castiel yanked him closer, both hands on the omega’s ass; Cas took the opportunity to lick into Dean’s mouth.

Dean moaned into the kiss, reaching a hand up to tangle it in the alpha’s hair. “Fuck, Cas. Please—“

Dean broke off when Cas pulled away to look at him. They locked eyes—Castiel’s blue eyes even more serious than usual. There was a hunger there that Dean had never seen before, though.

“Cas?”

“ _Mine.”_

Before Dean could respond, Cas used his grip in Dean’s hair to pull the omega’s head back, leaning in and sinking his teeth into Dean’s neck.

 

Dean woke with a gasp, sitting up and flailing in his tangled sheets. It took him a moment to realize that _no,_ there was not an alpha in his bedroom and _no,_ he was not mated.

He glanced over at his clock. It was only 1:30. That had all been a dream.

Finally, he realized that he was leaking slick for the first time in years. So much that his sheets were completely soaked. That was _not_ supposed to happen with his suppressants.

He buried his face in his hands.

“I am so fucked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shameless book promotion, I know. I was looking for something intellectual-y for Sam and Cas to geek over, so the first thing that came to mind is the book I'm currently rereading, "Tale For The Time Being" (which is a pretty darn good book, if any of y'all are looking for a new book to read. But it is really freakin' complex).


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Dean's secrets fly out the window.

“Shit. This is all Charlie’s fault,” Dean grumbled to himself for the millionth time as he stepped out of the shower. He quickly toweled himself dry and went to grab clean sheets from the closet. “Jesus, I’m like a friggin’ pup.”

He kept grumbling to himself as he tore the dirty sheets off his bed, groaning when he saw that the slick had soaked through to the mattress. “Are you kidding me right now? You know what? Fuck this.”

He left the sheets where they were on the ground and stormed into the living room, dropping onto the couch after grabbing a blanket. “Guess I’m sleeping out here.”

He wiggled a little on the leather cushion, trying to get comfortable. Long as it was, the couch didn’t fit the entire length of his body and he had to lay with his feet hanging off the end.

The only good thing about this whole situation was the fact that he seemed to be in control of his body again now that he was awake. He decided to test it, conjuring up an image of Cas in his mind, even replaying part of his dream. Nothing. No weird reactions. His body didn’t seem to care.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief.

It had to just be a fluke then, what happened. It was just because Charlie put the idea into his head the night before.

He wiggled again, crossing his arms and trying to relax enough to fall back asleep.

 

Dean woke with a start what felt like _way too many hours_ later when he tried rolling over in his sleep and ended up falling off the couch. He sat up quickly, dazed and disoriented, and was alarmed to see the sun peeking in through the curtains.

“Shit!” he swore, scrambling to his feet and running to get his phone. In the doorway of his bedroom he paused, wrinkling his nose in distaste. The room still _reeked_ of aroused omega.

He wasn’t running too late—it was only twenty minutes later than he usually left for work. Still, he rushed, throwing on shorts and a t-shirt and stuffing his work clothes into his duffel. He grabbed an apple and a water bottle on his way out the door, almost locking his keys inside in his haste.

On the drive to work, Dean got a call.

“Dean Winchester,” he answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Dean.”

“Cas!” Dean said in an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak. He almost dropped his phone when he heard his friend’s voice.

Castiel, bless him, didn’t comment on Dean’s weird greeting. “Where are you?”

“Shit, I totally forgot it’s Thursday. I’m so sorry, man. I’m on my way now—I’m only like five minutes away.”

“There’s no rush; I can keep myself occupied. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Dean sighed, “I just had a really…uh, _weird_ morning. I was sleepin’ on my couch and woke up late because I couldn’t hear my alarm, and—“

“Why were you sleeping on your couch?”

“Uh…” I had an insanely detailed sex dream about you mating me and woke up drenched in my own slick. I wasn’t keen on sleeping in my bed after that. “I dunno, Cas. I just fell asleep.”

“You were working late again, weren’t you?” Cas accused.

“Um…maybe,” Dean said. Technically, he hadn’t lied.

“You work yourself too hard, Dean Winchester,” Cas said, the fondness in his voice obvious even over the phone. Dean cringed.

“So I’ve been told. I’ll see you in like five minutes, okay? Bye.”

 

Dean hurried into the building, nodding at the beta girl working the front desk—Kallie? Katie? Kayley? Something like that. Dean drunkenly hooked up with her at a Christmas party two years ago and she still wouldn’t let him forget it.

When he got to the gym, he found Cas sitting cross-legged in the middle of the ring, eyes shut.

Seeing as he had a chance to look at the alpha without Cas realizing it, Dean studied his friend closely. Cas actually really was _insanely_ hot, Dean realized. He made a face. In his defense, he was only noticing because Charlie pointed it out to him.

Dean nudged Cas with his shoe to announce his presence.

Cas opened his eyes and looked up at Dean, his face relaxing into a smile. “Hello, Dean.”

“Cas. Are we doing this or what? How ‘bout you quit slacking and we get to fighting?”

Cas chuckled, standing and tugging off his shirt. Dean pointedly looked away. “I’m ready when you are.”

They got ready to spar, like they’d done dozens of times before, but Dean was completely off his game. He started the fight planning to use it let off some steam from his messed up night/morning; he aimed a punch at Castiel’s side, but the alpha easily caught his wrist and twisted it away from his body.

Ten seconds later, Cas landed a hard blow Dean usually would have been able to block easily. Cas hesitated, frowning at Dean with concern.

“I’m fine,” Dean waved him off.

Cas nodded and they got back into it. Dean managed to keep his head in the fight for longer this time, then Cas managed to kick his feet out from under him—which was usually _his_ move, dammit. But if Dean was going down, he wasn’t going down alone. He managed to knock Cas to the ground with him.

Cas recovered from the fall sooner than Dean did and pinned the omega down. Dean slammed an elbow back into Castiel’s side, trying to get the alpha off him. It sort of worked. Castiel sat back on his heels, which only gave Dean enough room to roll onto his back before Cas was pinning his hands on either side of his head—ending the fight and making it their shortest one yet.

In their first fight, Cas had Dean similarly pinned and Dean had panicked. He liked to pretend it didn’t happen, but it did. Admittedly, that first time Dean had been flashing back to Alastair and every other alpha that had ever given him crap.

This time, though, all he could think about was that _stupid_ dream. Cas was kneeling over him, so close Dean could feel the warmth radiating the alpha, and Dean panicked once again. This time for an entirely different reason.

He struggled to free his wrists, letting out a nervous whine, squirming to the point where he was practically thrashing beneath Cas. Castiel backed off, releasing Dean’s wrists and sitting back on his heels. “Dean, it’s alright,” he tried saying, but Dean didn’t listen. He was too busy wiggling out from under Cas. He would’ve fled, but Cas grabbed his hand before he could. ”Dean, stop! Breathe! Tell me what’s wrong!”

Dean stopped trying to free his hand, but he didn’t look up at Cas. He couldn’t breathe. He knew how strong his scent probably was, strong and full of distress, if the looks the other people in the gym were giving him was anything to go by.

Cas let go of Dean’s hand, instead rubbing Dean’s arm gently. “Just breathe, Dean. It’s okay.” With his free hand, Cas put a finger under Dean’s chin and made the omega look up at him. “You know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?”

Dean freed his chin, glaring at Cas defiantly. This was getting a little too sappy for his taste. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m good. Now can you _let go_ _of me?_ ”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” Castiel said, matching Dean’s stubbornness.

Dean managed to tear his hand free and stood, glaring at the bemused alpha. “Sorry, Cas, but I gotta…uh. I just gotta go. I’ll see you upstairs, I guess.”

With that Dean fled, leaving an utterly bewildered and hurt Castiel in his voice.

 

Dean didn’t see Castiel the rest of the morning. After he ran away from the gym, he hid away in his office and distracted himself with a mountain of paperwork.

Around noon, Sam called.

“Sup, Sammy,” Dean said by way of greeting.

“Guess what?” Sam asked excitedly. Dean could practically hear his manic grin through the phone.

“You got a haircut?”

Sam scoffed. “No, dork. You know how I was in town interviewing for an internship?”

“…Yeah.”

“I got it! I’m spending the summer in Chicago!”

“Dude, that’s _awesome_ ,” Dean said, smiling so hard it was almost painful. “Seriously, man, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks. I was wondering if I could maybe stay with you? So I don’t have to find an apartment?”

“Hell yeah, you can! I’ll have to clean out the spare bedroom…when do you start?”

“Next month.”

There was an interrupting knock on Dean’s door; Dean looked up to see a nervous-looking Cas standing in the doorway.

“Hang on a second, Sam,” Dean said. He covered the phone with a hand and looked up at Cas, “What’s up?”

“A group of us are going to get lunch, if you’d like to join?”

“Sure. Right now?”

“We’re leaving shortly, yes.”

“Okay,” he picked the phone back up, “Sammy, I’m gonna have to call you back later, kay?”

“Alright. Are you with Cas? Tell him I say hi!”

“Will do. Talk to you later.”

 

It was Dean, Cas, Benny, Jody, and Charlie going out for lunch. Cas insisted that Charlie and Benny ride with Jody because he had “important matters to discuss” with Dean. The sternness in the glare Castiel sent Dean kept him from arguing.

“We need to talk about what happened,” Cas said once they were alone in the Impala.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Cas,” Dean said, backing out of his parking spot and navigating his way out of the parking structure.

Castiel sighed. “Dean, I’ve never seen you so distressed in all of our acquaintance. You had a full-scale panic attack, and I know why.”

Dean’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Do you?”

“Yes, and it’s completely understandable to distrust alphas, considering everything you’ve gone through.”

“What?”

“You don’t like feeling vulnerable when there are alphas around, so you panicked when you were pinned by an alpha you’ve only known for a little while. That _is_ what happened, is it not?”

“Yeah, that’s what happened.” Dean almost laughed. If Cas knew the _real_ reason Dean freaked, he wouldn’t be so calm. He would probably be disgusted. Or angry. Or something like that. Castiel’s theory was a part of it, though, so Dean decided it would be easier to just go with that. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Cas. Obviously. I mean, I’ve told you shit I’ve never told _anyone._ I just…don’t like being pinned down like that. By anyone, not just you.”

“I understand. It’s one thing to not like it, Dean, but it’s another to panic and shut down. What if you were pinned like that during a case? What would you do?”

Dean glared out at the road, shrugging. “Not let them pin me in the first place.”

He got where Castiel’s concern was coming from; he really did. And it was a valid point. It still made him bristle.

“I might be able to help you,” Cas offered, his voice quiet. Dean glanced over at the alpha, surprised to see him looking nervous.

“Yeah? How?”

“Well…the point of our sparring sessions is to improve, is it not? I believe part of the reason you keep panicking is a lack of experience at being in that situation…Perhaps if you feel more confident about combating alphas that are pinning you, you would be less prone to panic when—“

“Cas. What are you suggesting, exactly?”

“We could practice. Start with me pinning you like I did this morning and you could try throwing me off.”

“Oh. Um…” Dean trailed off. It was a good idea, honestly. That was the one part of his training that really needed improvement, and if he could practice with an alpha he trusted…but on the other hand: awkward. And after that dream, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to test how much close physical contact with this alpha he could handle. “Maybe, yeah. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Of course.”

They were silent the rest of the car ride, and they didn’t discuss this conversation again for some time after.

 

.

.

Less than a month later, Sam moved in with Dean for the summer.

It was weird for Dean, living with his brother again after so many years on his own, but they both get used to the other’s presence pretty quickly.

For one thing, it was weird having food in his apartment. With work, he didn’t have the time—or energy—for grocery shopping, but now Sam bought all the food. Dean made dinner when he was home, but there were many nights where he would have to work late. On those nights it was always a welcome surprise to find food waiting for him. While Sam didn’t necessarily approve of his brother’s diet, he admitted it was better than the pizza, Chinese takeout, and fast food Dean lived on before he moved in.

Sam also cleaned up after Dean, which was nice. He complained a lot while doing it, though, which was less nice.

After his first week at his internship, Sam gushed about a fellow intern named Jessica. Like Sam, she was about to start her senior year of college and like Sam, she wanted to attend Chicago Law after she graduated. Apparently she was “smart” and “funny” and “perfect,” according to Sam. Oh, and she was an omega. Am omega that smelled like “heaven incarnate and—“ (that’s where Dean cut him off).

Dean was happy for his little brother, though. Plus, law school and a mate in Chicago might mean that Sam would move to the city permanently.

Sam became a regular at their movie nights. He got along really well with Cas and Charlie, which made Dean happy. He even introduced Sam to Bobby, Ellen, and Jo—he was careful not to let Sam tell the Singer-Harvelles too much about his past. He didn’t need them worrying more than they already did. He also didn’t tell Sam just how much the Singer-Harvelles meant to him, how he thought of them more as family than he did some of his _real_ family. He had the feeling Sam knew, though.

Sam and Dean definitely got on each other’s nerves, of course. A lot. It was to be expected to roommates who are also brothers. It was usually small things—Sam getting mad about Dean’s mess, Dean getting fed up with Sam’s nagging.

The biggest fight came two week into Sam’s stay. Dean had been flipping through his mail when he found a letter hand-addressed to Sam at Dean’s address, and it was _posted from Lawrence._

“What _the fuck_ is this?!” Dean demanded, shoving the letter in Sam’s face.

“Oh. It’s from mom—I needed her to send me some paperwork stuff for my law school applications.”

“That’s what _faxing_ is for, dumbass!”

“Well I didn’t think it was that big of a deal; it's not like I told her to come visit, or anything. In fact, I told her not to. The hell are you so mad about?”

“You can’t give her my _address_ , Sam! What if she decides to visit anyways and brings dad along?! How could you be so careless?”

Sam laughed in disbelief, looking at Dean like he’d grown a second head. “Aren’t you being a little paranoid?”

“ _Paranoid_? Are you fucking kidding me? Sam, you don’t know anything about why I left! You don’t know how _fucked_ I’d be if dad or Alastair found me—“

“Alastair?” Sam asked, wrinkling his nose. “Who’s Alastair?”

Dean faltered, gaping at Sam, and felt some of his anger drain away. “You don’t know.”

“Know what? Dean?” Sam leaned forward on the couch, looking up at Dean with big, sad eyes.

“Alastair’s the alpha John decided I would mate,” Dean sighed, collapsing onto the couch next to his brother.

“ _What?!_ ” Sam asked, horrified. “An arranged mating? That’s…that’s barbaric! Are you sure dad meant—“

“I’m sure. Alastair’s a total asshole, too. I mean, that’s an understatement. Worst possible choice—Dad only chose him ‘cause he’s got money.”

“Dean, shit. I’m so sorry. But maybe you could talk to dad—“

“No. No way. Dude, if he knows I’m alive he’s legally allowed to drag me back to Kansas and make me mate Alastair. I’m not risking it.”

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, I get it. I'm so sorry, Dean. I promise I’ll be more careful.”

.

.

Dean’s fears turned out to be well founded. A week after the fight, Dean was lounging on the couch channel-surfing when there was a knock on the door. He was home alone; Sam had finally gotten up the courage to ask Jess out and they were on their first date.

With an annoyed huff, Dean hopped off the couch to answer the door.

He unlocked the door and opened it, freezing at who he saw. He doesn’t even know how long he stayed like that, gaping at the woman standing in his doorway.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mary Winchester said, smiling at Dean. She was just as beautiful as Dean remembered. She looked a little older now—there were lines around her eyes he didn’t remember being there before—and she seemed sadder. Her smile was different; when she smiled at him it was polite, not as warm as he was used to. “I’m looking for my son—I thought this is the address he gave me. Sorry to bother you,” she said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” he called after her, his voice cracking audibly, “you have the right apartment; Sam’s just not here right now. He’s on a date. I’m, uh…I’m his roommate.”

“Oh,” Mary said, turning back to face him. She looked Dean up and down curiously.

“Is it just you here visiting, or…”

“It’s just me,” She replied with a smile. “My husband wasn’t able to get off work to visit.”

Dean nodded, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. “Uh…you wanna come in? Sam’ll probably be back in a couple hours.”

Mary studied him closely before accepting. She didn’t recognize him. Had he really changed that much? “What’s your name?”

If she could smell him she would’ve recognized him instantly, but she was a beta. Her sense of smell wasn’t as good as an alpha or an omega’s. She’d be able to tell he was an omega, of course, but the particulars of his scent remained a mystery.

“Oh, come on, mom,” Dean said, chuckling weakly, “You don’t recognize your own son?”

As soon as he said it, he saw the gears click together in her brain. She gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth, and shook her head.

“Dean?” she eventually asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Hi, mom,” Dean said. He tried smiling at her, but honestly, it probably looked like more of a grimace.

“I thought you were dead,” Mary breathed, voice even softer than before.

“I know. I’m so, so sorry.”

Mary shook her head vigorously. “You can’t be—I don’t understand.”

“I’ll explain what I can, if you’ll let me.”

Mary nodded. “I just can’t believe you’re alive.”

Before he could reply, Dean was pulled into a tight hug. He let out a surprised squeak before hugging back. God, he missed his mother’s hugs.

“I missed you so much,” Mary sobbed into his shoulder.

“I know. I missed you, too,” Dean said, sniffing loudly. He wasn’t going to cry, though. His life had been to chick flick-esque the past few months; he wasn’t going to add a tearful reunion with his mother where they hugged and talked about how much they missed each other to that.

Mary pulled away, holding his face in her hands while she studied him. And okay, maybe he was crying a little. He wasn’t _heartless._ “Look at you; you’re so beautiful, Dean. My beautiful little boy. You’re all grown up.”

Dean laughed. “On the outside, maybe.”

“Hold on,” Mary said. She tried frowning at Dean, but the tears streaking down her face lessened her severity. “Sam’s living with you?”

“Uh…yes?” He was twenty-five years old and hadn’t seen his mother in ten years, but he still worried he was about to get in trouble when she used that tone.

“So he knows about you being alive and he didn’t tell me?” She asked, raising her voice.

Dean cringed. He stepped to the side and ushered Mary into his apartment, saying, “It’s not his fault, mom…I told him not to tell you.”

“Why?” Mary asked, pouting, “Why let your father and I suffer, thinking—“

“I really doubt John was ‘suffering’ all that much,” Dean snorted.

“Dean! How could you say that? He’s your _father_ , of course he’s miserable!”

“Oh, please. He stopped caring about me the second I presented as an omega and you know it."

Mary cringed. "He didn't _stop caring,_ Dean...he cared  _differently,_ once you presented. Of course he became protective, nobody expected you to present as an omega. But Dean, when he thought he'd never see you again-"

"What’s the difference? Dead, married off to some asshole alpha that wouldn’t have let me see you guys anyways. Only difference is I would’ve been happier dead.”

“Alastair? _That’s_ why you left? Dean, if you had just told us—“

“I did, mom! I _begged_ dad not to make me mate him! I told him the things Alastair said to me when he wasn’t around, I told him how bad Alastair’s scent was to me, I told him how Alastair treated me, and he didn’t believe me!”

"What? He never told me-  _you_ never told me..."

"Yeah, he told me not to bother you about it."

“Oh, honey...I often told your father that you were too young to be mated. But regarding his choice…Dean, your father and I knew Alastair well. He never would have let any harm come to you if he thought—“

“Then you don’t know anything about him, mom!” Dean argued, raising his voice. “I left because Alastair tried to…he tried to do something _really_ bad to me, mom, and I’m only okay because drunk old _Rufus_ was the only one brave enough to step in and save me. I knew dad wouldn’t have believed me if I told him what happened, so I left.”

“What did Alastair try to do?” Mary asked quietly, eyes wide.

Dean crossed his arms, folding in on himself. “I’d rather you didn’t know. But I’m okay here, mom. I love my life now. I’m sorry I hurt you, but I’m not sorry I did it. I’m much happier now than I would’ve been if I stayed. Hands down.”

“Dean,” Mary said, pulling Dean into another hug. She was crying again. “I forgive you, of course. I had no idea, sweetheart, please—“

“It’s fine, mom. I told you I’m okay.”

“I believe you,” Mary smiled. She sat on the couch, patting the spot next to her. “I want to hear everything about your life. From the day you left.”

Dean sighed, sitting on the couch. “Yeah, okay. Everything, huh?”

Dean started from the beginning, starting with how Rufus directed him to Bobby and telling her about how Dean pestered Bobby for a week straight before the beta agreed to adopt him and train him.

“Train you?”

“Uh, yeah, “Dean chuckled, “I kind of work for the OPA now. And I can take down any alpha that tries messing with me.”

“Good. I don’t want anyone ever messing with my baby again,” Mary said, patting Dean’s cheek. “Tell me more.”

They talked for hours, Dean telling her about everything—his friends, his job, his hobbies, _everything._ Mary talked a little too, saying she got a new job and talking about the house.

“So there’s no special-someone in your life?” Mary pushed.

“No, and I still don’t think I’ll ever…well. I just don’t know, mom.”

“That’s alright, sweetie. You should be able to take your time and make a decision when you’re really sure about who you’re choosing to spend the rest of your life with.”

“Thanks. So, um…could you not tell dad, then? About me still being alive? I don’t want Alastair—“

“Dean,” Mary cut him off, expression stern, “You need to understand something. Your father and I _liked_ Alastair. Don’t interrupt me, young man—I’m not finished. Alastair was always kind and polite around us; we had no idea what he was really like.”

“Dad should’ve just believed me when I told him!”

Mary ran a hand through her hair. “I know, I know. I'm not trying to explain away his actions, but I don't know his side of the story. In your father’s defense, you have to admit that you _frequently_ argued against mating loudly and frequently. I’m sorry he didn’t believe you, but you also have to admit that you weren’t always the most truthful when it came to things you didn’t want to do.”

“How are you taking his side?! I ran away from home because of him! I’ve been terrified to call you and talk to you ‘cause I was worried he would find out and drag me back home!”

“Dean, I'm not taking his side, but John is _my mate._ I can't believe that he would _ever_ in a _million years_ make you mate Alastair if he knew what Alastair was really like!”

Dean scoffed. “He was still trying to mate a twelve year old boy off to a thirty year old creep! That’s fucked up!”

“Language! You know how common that kind of mating is- it's not like your father was doing anything others weren't. And he _was_ going to give you until you were sixteen. Dean, whatever your father has done in the past, he’s changed since you di—since you left. He misses you, I know he regrets the way he treated you, and he’ll agree to _anything t_ o get you back, honey.”

“Mom, I just don’t—“

“Dean, who are you talking to?” Sam asked, walking into the living room and freezing when he saw Mary sitting on the couch. “Oh. Uh oh. Shit. Yeah, I’m just gonna…”

He turned to leave, cringing when both Dean and Mary stopped him.

“Not so fast, young man.”

“Get your ass back in here, Sammy.”

“Yep," he sighed, joining them on the couch. "Wow, look at this! The whole family together. So, um, I feel like I'm in trouble. Am I in trouble?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regular posting schedule? What's that? Is that a thing that people actually do? Overrated.

Dean looked up when Bobby entered the conference room, nudging the alpha sleeping next to him.

“ _What_?” Benny grumbled into his arm.

Dean nudged him again, harder this time. Benny sat up, blinking blearily at Dean before noticing Bobby, who was standing behind him and glaring down at him. “’M awake.”

“The hell is wrong with you?” Dean laughed, “That’s the third time you’ve fallen asleep during work _this week_.”

Benny glared at the omega. “You try working full time _and_ taking care of two newborn pups.”

“Ew, pass. Not that your pups aren’t cute or anything, Benny. So Bobby, what’s up with this emergency meeting?”

Bobby sank into the empty seat at the head of the table. “Y’all know that strip club downtown, Devil to Pay?”

Castiel raised an eyebrow. “Do any of us look like the type to frequent strip clubs?” he asked, making Dean laugh.

“Speak for yourself, Cas. I go to omega strip clubs _all_ the time.”

“Har har, you’re both hilarious. _Anyways,_ I got an anonymous tip this morning sayin’ they’re doing more than just strippin’ over there.”

“Prostitution?” Cas clarified, head ticking to one side.

“Among other things, according to the tip. I guess there’s all sorts of illegal activities goin’ on down there. I don’t know how reliable our source is, but it don’t hurt to be sure. Devil to Pay’s one of the biggest clubs in Chicago, so I want this case to be top priority; everyone’s in on it. Understand?”

Everyone nodded.

“Dean, you’re going undercover as one of the dancers—they have enough there that a new face won’t be too memorable.”

“Wait, so I’m gonna be a stripper?”

Castiel choked on his water, sending him into a coughing fit. Everyone just talked over him.

“This is unbelievable,” Dean complained, “Why can’t Benny be the stripper for once?”

Bobby rolled his eyes. “That’d be a sight. If Cas lives enough,” he began, glancing worriedly at the coughing alpha, “he’s gonna be Dean’s client.”

Dean winked at Cas, which didn’t help the alpha’s state and really just made him cough harder.

“Benny’s just going to be himself. Before I explain the plan—Charlie, you think you can track where our anonymous tip came from?”

“Can Hermione Granger cast a mean _obliviate_ charm?” the redhead scoffed. She was met with blank stares. “Uh, yes I can.”

“Good. Now Dean, you’re gonna go in there before everyone else and talk to the other strippers, ask ‘em if they’ve noticed anything suspicious. Then you’re gonna meet up with Novak, and here’s the important part—five minutes later Benny’s gonna show up at the club for a surprise inspection, and I want you to watch the owner’s reaction. Benny showing up is just a ruse to see if they try to hide anything before he can see.”

“Oh, cool! It’s like in Sherlock!” Charlie interrupted, once again met with blank stares. “With…Irene Adler? Seriously, no one? Cas—next movie night.”

Dean groaned.

“Bradbury, don’t you have a call to be tracing?”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Charlie said, saluting Bobby before flipping open her laptop. Bobby shook his head and started going over the details of the plan.

.

.

That Friday night, Castiel walked into Devil to Pay. It was different than Azazel’s nightclub; he saw night away. For one thing, Devil to Pay was more packed than Azazel’s club ever was.

Everything in the club was cast in various shades of red, from the walls to the carpets to the tables and even to the cages lining the stage. It was easy to pinpoint the employees-  the ones _not_ dancing in the cages- by their outfits.

In college, Castiel dated a girl named Meg. One Halloween, during their second year together, Meg dressed as a “slutty demon” (and made Castiel be her angel counterpart, but that’s neither here nor there). This was a strip club _full_ of slutty demons.

Jody dressed Castel for that evening. Everyone in the office insisted he dress down for the case, telling him his usual stuffy suit and tie would give him away as a federal agent instantly. He compromised with them, agreeing Jody’s jeans and t-shirt as long as he got to keep his trench coat.

As he walked past one of the large cages, an omega girl dressed in white lingerie with a halo stepped out of it and trailed her hand up Castiel’s shirt. He nervously excused himself, apologizing, and backed away.

He realized something. He and Dean didn’t have a plan for meeting up. There were a lot of people in the club and he didn’t see Dean anywhere.

He dropped into an empty booth near him. While he tried to make it seem like he was watching the stage, where an omega dressed as an angel and an omega dressed as a devil were dancing together, he was really watching for Dean.

He craned his neck to look at the clock on the wall behind him, and that’s when a warm weight settled onto his lap.

“Oh, I’m not—“ he began to say, cutting off with a strangled sound when he saw that it was _Dean_ straddling him. A _practically naked_ Dean. A Dean that was naked except for a pair of tight, lacy, _really_ short shorts and two red horns on top of his head. Castiel had to admit, Dean wore the slutty demon look much better than Meg had. It was awakening a kink Castiel hadn't realized he had. But then, Dean could probably turn anything into a kink for Castiel.

“Hey, Cas,” Dean beamed, completely unaffected by the fact that he was _sitting on Castiel’s lap_. “Look at me, I’m a demon!”

“I see,” Cas managed to croak. He was honestly surprised he was still able to say anything, with Dean situating himself on his lap and wrapping his arms around the alpha’s shoulders. Cas glanced down at the length of tan, muscular skin exposed to his gaze.

“I think I make a good demon,” Dean observed. He lifted off Castiel slightly, reaching around and grabbing the red tail attached to his shorts. In true cartoon demonic fashion, the tip was forked. “Don’t you agree?”

Cas opened his mouth, trying to come up with a response. “As good a demon as there can be, I suppose, but I prefer you as you are. You panic if I pin you in a fight, but this is okay?”

Dean shrugged, wiggling in Castiel’s lap. Cas put a hand on the omega’s hip to stop him- he could _not_ handle friction or wriggling of any kind, his sanity in this situation already precarious. Plus, he was on the verge of showing Dean _just how attractive_ a demon Cas thought he was- but Dean slapped his hand away. “No touching. Haven’t you ever been to a strip club before?”

“Then _stop moving,_ ” Cas said, failing to keep the growl out of his voice. He held onto Dean’s hips despite the warning. “Dean, I really can’t handle you sitting on me like this.”

“Why not? _Oh,”_ Dean said, green eyes widening. He seemed shocked into silence for a moment, but then he smirked and intentionally rolled his hips in a long, slow motion, grinding against Cas. “Am I making you uncomfortable or something?”

Cas bit his lip, trying to stop the noise that was threatening to work its way out of his mouth. He couldn’t keep from moaning when Dean playfully tugged his hair.

“ _Dean. Stop._ ”

Dean laughed, patting Castiel’s cheek and lifting off Castiel’s lap, instead hovering above him a little. “Don’t worry, Cas. I won’t hold it against ya, seeing as you’ve got a hot, practically naked omega in your lap. You’re only human.”

“You are _insufferable_ —“

“Shhh. Benny’s here, by the door.” Dean leaned in closer to Castiel, the top of his head brushing Castiel’s chin, and subtly pointed out a man by the bar. “The shorter guy in the suit there is Crowley. He owns the place.”

Together they watched as an employee approached Crowley, whispering something into his ear. Crowley glanced toward the door, where Benny waited patiently, and rolled his eyes. Clearly annoyed, Crowley snapped at the man. The guy nodded and slipped through the back of the club.

“Come on,” Castiel said, standing and pulling Dean up with him. They both followed the man. Because Dean was dressed as one of the strippers, no one questioned them when they left the club’s main floor and headed for the back.

Instead of making a left turn toward the private rooms, however, they made a right followed the man through the maze of back hallways and small offices, careful to stay unseen and only stopping when the man turned into a room.

Carefully approaching and peeking into the room, they saw it was just a small office. A _filthy_ office.

And the man they followed there? He was frantically rushing to clean it, straightening books and throwing away junk food wrappers. He didn’t touch the computer, didn’t touch anything that looked remotely like an important file.

“He’s cleaning,” Castiel breathed into Dean’s ear. Dean jumped a little when he suddenly felt the alpha’s hot breath on the back of his neck, but he nodded. “I don’t think he’s hiding anything other than a mess.”

Dean nodded again, pulling away from the door and dragging Cas with him. “Alright. Let’s get out of here.”

They tried heading back the way they came from. They must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere, though, because soon they were faced with a locked door, the words “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” painted in bright letters on it.

“Back the way we came, then,” Dean said, grabbing Castiel’s hand and pulling him back down the hallway. They didn’t make it far before they turned a corner and ran into Benny and Crowley. Crowley’s back was to them, showing Benny some sign hanging on the wall, and Benny was too trained to react to Dean and Castiel’s sudden appearance.

“What’s _that_?” Benny asked, pointing to something on the sign. When Crowley leaned in to examine it, Benny gestured frantically, telling Dean and Cas to go back the way they just came from.

 They quickly backtracked back down the hallway until they were by the door again, and Dean grabbed Castiel’s sleeve, making him stop. “That’s a dead end, remember?” he hissed.

“But Bobby will kill us if Crowley finds us snooping around.”

“I know,” Dean cringed. “Let me think a second.”

He glanced down at his outfit and froze, an idea coming to him. He slowly looked back up at Cas, cringing again. “So…I have an idea. It’s a really bad one, but it’s the only one I’ve got and dude: I’m so, so sorry.”

“For what?” Castiel asked.

He didn’t get an answer. What he got instead was Dean, stepping forward and pulling him into a kiss.

Cas stood petrified for a moment, unable to believe that what he thought was happening was really happening. Dean was _kissing him. Willingly_ kissing him.

Dean pulled away with an annoyed huff. “This’ll only work if you kiss back, Cas.”

And that was all the invitation Castiel needed.

All thoughts of where they were and what was happening flew from his head, his entire world narrowing down to Dean. And Dean’s lips. And Dean’s body. And, _God,_ Dean’s _scent._

He crowded Dean against the wall, claiming the omega’s lips in rough kiss. Dean let out a surprised squeak, one hand flying to grip the lapel of Castiel’s trench coat, and then he was kissing back.

He wrapped his arms around Castiel’s neck, one hand trailing up to tangle in the alpha’s hair. Cas ground against him, moaning into Dean’s mouth. Dean responded with a delicious whimper, and suddenly Castiel needed to see what other sounds he could wring out of the omega.

Dean gasped when Castiel ran his tongue along his bottom lip. Cas nipped at his lip before taking Dean’s gasp as a chance to lick into the omega’s mouth, his hands busy running up and down Dean’s bare skin.

He worked a thigh between Dean’s legs, holding Dean’s hips tightly while grinding against the omega again. Dean’s knees buckled beneath him and his arms tightened reflexively so that Castiel’s weight and Dean’s grip around the alpha’s neck were the only things keeping him upright. Cas pulled away for just a second, smiling to himself when Dean whimpered at the loss of contact, and lifted Dean so the omega’s legs were wrapped around his hips, his torso pinned between Castiel and the wall.

Cas felt something bumping his calf, realizing with a laugh that it was the devil tail attached to Dean’s shorts. It was an inappropriate time to laugh, Castiel knew, especially considering how long he'd been waiting for this moment, but he couldn't help himself.

“You’re not supposed to be _laughing_ ,” Dean huffed, digging his nails into Castiel’s shoulders.

“Apologies,” Cas breathed, dropping his head to mouth at Dean’s jaw. The omega groaned, slamming his head back into the wall. “Your tail.”

Dean wasn’t entirely sure what Castiel said, nor did he particularly care. Cas was kissing down Dean’s exposed throat, and Dean honestly couldn’t focus on much of anything.

Dean tangled a hand into Castiel’s hair and yanked him back into a kiss just as Crowley and Benny turned the corner.

Crowley cut-off mid-sentence, gaping at Castiel and Dean before cringing apologetically at Benny. Benny was equal parts horrified and amused at seeing his two friends glued together. He had no idea what they were up to, but he couldn't wait to see how this played out. Castiel set Dean down but didn’t step away.

Crowley stormed over to them. “What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?”

He had to ask twice before Dean remembered why he and Cas kissed in the first place, then he was shoving the alpha away and gasping for breath. He blinked at Crowley. “Uh…we got lost?” he said, playing timid. “And he…I mean, _we…_ couldn’t wait.”

“Got lost on your way to _where,_ exactly?” Crowley growled. “What kind of establishment do you think we’re running here?! This may be a strip club, but _have some class, will you?”_

“Sorry, Mr. Crowley,” Dean cooed, wringing his hands nervously.

“I’m afraid I’m not in a very _forgiving_ mood this evening,” Crowley snapped. “You’re fired. And _you,”_ he growled, turning on Castiel, “You’re banned. Permanently. Get out. If I ever catch you here again, I’ll have you arrested, do I make myself clear?”

“Absolutely,” Cas said, grabbing Dean’s hand and pulling him past Crowley and Benny. Dean winked at Benny as he passed, trying to regain at least a little of his dignity.

They heard Crowley apologizing to Benny as they fled. “I promise you, Agent: that does _not_ happen often…”

As soon as they were out of sight, Dean pulled his hand free, eyeing Cas warily. “For the record…that was just for the job, right?”

“Of course,” Castiel sighed, not meeting Dean’s questioning gaze. He realized the second Crowley turned the corner and saw them that it had just been a trick, that Dean wasn’t _really_ kissing him. He’d been so excited that he hadn’t realized it sooner. “I do apologize if I seemed to have gotten carried away. If I did, it was purely instinct—as you said earlier, I am only human.”

Dean nodded, not as relieved as he should be at Castiel’s assurance. Maybe- _just maybe-_ there was a small part of him that wished it had been for real. “Yeah, sure.”

“May I ask, though,” Cas began as they made their way out of the crowded club, “You don’t seem to be…affected. Your scent hasn’t changed at all, and—“

“It’s not you,” Dean said, wrapping his arms around himself in the cold air. “It’s my suppressants. I told you, I don’t…um, _react_ to alphas in that way…Shit, it’s cold. Where is my—oh.”

He turned back to look at the club. Castiel watched him, eyebrows raised. “What?”

“I left my bag in there. It had my favorite jacket in it,” Dean pouted.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to leave it, Dean. You were banned, if you recall.”

“No, _you_ were banned. I was just fired.”

“Do you really think Crowley will bother making the distinction?”

“Ugh. _Fine,_ ” Dean grumbled, following Castiel to the van parked down the street. Cas slipped out of his coat and handed it to Dean, who hesitated before taking it with a mumbled “thanks.”

And _there_ was another kink Cas never knew he had. Seeing Dean in his trench coat was almost hotter than the sexy devil outfit. _Almost._ It didn’t help, knowing how little Dean was wearing beneath the coat.

Dean was walking ahead of him when Castiel suddenly let out a loud laugh. Dean frowned at him, looking at the alpha like he’d suddenly gone insane. “What now?”

Castiel shook his head, grinning. “It’s just…the tail.”

Dean glanced over his shoulder, laughing when he saw the tail. The end of it was curling out from underneath the bottom of the trench coat.

Castiel knocked on the back door of the van. The door slid open, revealing Bobby, Charlie, and several computer monitors. “What the hell happened to you two?” Bobby asked, taking in how out of sorts they both looked.

Charlie giggled when she saw Dean wrapped up in Castiel’s coat, the devil’s horns still on his head.

“We got kicked out,” Dean mumbled, stepping into the van.

“You _what_? Did they—“

“Nobody found out we’re OPA,” Castiel interrupted, “We just had to resort to some drastic measures to keep them from finding out.”

“I don’t wanna know,” Bobby sighed, getting up to open the door when he saw Benny approaching on the monitor.

The alpha climbed in, laughing hysterically at Dean and Castiel. “What the _hell_ were you two doing? I’ll hand it to you, that was mighty resourceful, but I do think I’m scarred for life.”

“ _So,_ Bobby,” Dean interrupted before Benny could continue, “Unless Benny found something, I really think this place is clean, even if the boss is a jackass. I talked to all the other employees and none of them have noticed anything weird, and they definitely didn’t try to hide anything when Benny showed up- except for maybe some sanitation violations, but that's not really our gig.”

“I don’t really know if we can trust your judgment, though,” Benny chuckled, “It didn’t really seem like you two were payin’ much attention to anything except—“

Dean growled, glaring at the alpha.

“Ah. Is this goin’ on the list of things we’re never talking about?” Benny asked, looking between Dean and Cas with a grin.

“Buddy, it’s going at the _top_ of the list,” Dean grumbled, wrapping Castiel’s coat tighter around himself and not even noticing how he scooted closer to Cas.

“What?” Charlie whined, “What happened? Why do I always miss the good stuff?”

Bobby drummed his fingers on his leg, looking surprisingly guilty. “Actually, boys, I got something to tell ya…Charlie figured out where the tip came from. It came from Devil to Pay’s biggest competitor, the owner of Abbadon’s Den. We called her while you were in there, and she admitted she just wanted Devil to Pay to be shut down while the OPA ran an investigation. The tip was fake.”

Dean gaped at Bobby. “We went through all of that for _nothing?!_ Are you kidding me?! Bobby! God, I really hate this job sometimes.”

.

 

When Dean finally got home late that evening, he found Sam still awake. Sam pounced the moment he walked in the door, holding a book out to Dean with a grin on his face.

Dean took it, frowning at the cover. It was Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. “What…?”

“I saw that today and knew that was the only one you don’t have, so I figured I’d get it…um. Is that Castiel’s coat?” Sam asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Uh…maybe.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully. “Uh-huh. It kinda looks like you don’t have anything on underneath it.”

“That’s not true; I have shorts on,” Dean smirked. Sam was obviously bursting with questions, but since Mary’s visit he’d been trying hard to get back on Dean’s good side (hence, Dean figured, the book). Dean was ready to forgive him, of course, but he couldn’t resist torturing his little brother just a little while longer.

“Oh. You, um, also have something in your hair,” Sam said, squinting at the top of Dean’s head. Dean reached up to figure out what Sam was talking about, realizing he was still wearing the fake devil horns. He laughed, taking them off. “And you have glitter on your face.”

“Gotcha. Thanks for the heads up, Sammy. See you in the morning,” Dean chuckled, his brother’s hopelessly lost and confused expression brightening his mood. He patted Sam’s shoulder in passing, refusing to explain his appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody see what I did with he whole "demon dean" thing? :D


	12. Chapter 12

Dean frowned down at his phone, his mother's name lighting up the screen. They'd just talked last night, what could she want?

He ignored the call, tossing his phone on the seat next to him, and turned his attention back to the road. Traffic was very stop-and-go and he wanted to pay attention; he could call her back when he got home.

They'd kept in touch since Mary returned to Lawrence. So far she'd kept her promise and hadn't told John she'd seen Dean. Still, every time she called she continued to drop not-so-subtle hints that she just wanted everyone to make up and get along.

Dean didn't blame her for trying, really. Family was important to her. She loved John-- he was the love of her life, her _true mate_ — and she loved Dean as well. Dean didn't doubt that John missed him and regretted everything that happened; family was important to John, too. Dean knew John loved him. John really, really, _did_ love him; he just didn't know how to raise an omega son, and that wasn't even his fault. He'd grown up in a family of all alphas; when his son surprised him by being an omega, he did the best he could.

John tried adjusting; he really did try. He just didn't realize Dean would've preferred it if John had just treated him the same way he'd always been treated.

And Dean could easily forgive him for all of that.

Even the arranged mating thing—Dean could forgive that. Given, of course, that John redacted the engagement and agreed to let Dean make his own decisions. Because really, arranged matings like his weren’t uncommon in the more conservative Midwest. Freshly-presented omegas were mated off to older alphas every day. John was actually going to give Dean more time than most—he was _supposed_ to get until he was sixteen. It wasn’t John’s fault Alastair was a son of a bitch, and Dean knew how charming Alastair could be when he really tried.

John just looked around, saw what everybody else was doing, and figured that was the best way to go. And like he said, arranged matings did work for some people. Just not for Dean. _Especially_ not if it was with Alastair.

What really irritated Dean about his dad’s actions was the fact that he didn’t listen. John always thought he was right, even when— _especially when_ —he wasn’t. He didn’t listen when Dean said he didn’t want to mate Alastair, and Dean was worried that he still wouldn’t listen if they ever met again.

He was annoyed with his mom, too. She wasn’t completely off the hook in this. He was annoyed with her for blindly following her mate’s decisions back then, and he was annoyed with her for defending him now.

But then, he didn’t really know what it was like to have a mate. That’s probably what being a good mate meant—supporting the one you love even when you’re not sure. And his parents, well they weren’t just mates. They were _true_ mates. Soulmates, made for each other. Dean couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must be like. He guessed he wouldn’t be able to turn on _his_ true mate if he had one.

With a sigh, Dean realized he’d already forgiven Mary. With John, he just couldn’t. He couldn’t forgive his dad because there was a part of him that still worried John would find him and try to make him mate Alastair. And it wasn’t right, having to fear your own father like that.

Because legally, John _could_ do that. It was partly the legal system’s fault, sure, and hundreds of years of sexism and omega oppression. Dean was a federal agent, he knew how to take down alphas twice his size with nothing but his hands, hell, he’d even _killed_ people when he had to, but his hands were tied because of some stupid, outdated backwater law. And he’d _definitely_ done his research. There was no way around it.

John always was a stubborn son of a bitch, too, one that didn’t like having his decisions questioned. It was a risk Dean couldn’t afford.

On the way up to his apartment, Dean listened to the frantic voicemail Mary left on his phone.

“Hi, honey…oh, you’re probably working. Sam said you keep late hours. Sorry to bother you, it’s just…something’s happened. Call me as soon as you get this. Please.”

He called her back right away.

“Mom? What’s up? What’s wrong?”

“Dean! I’m so glad you called. It’s your father.”

Dean swore his heart stopped beating.

“He’s in the hospital.”

“What?” Dean frowned as he entered his apartment. Of all the things he was expecting, that wasn’t one of them. He was surprised at how much he cared all of a sudden. He was actually _horrified_ and _worried_ and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He looked around the apartment for Sam, but the kid wasn’t home. Probably at Jessica’s again. “What happened? He okay?”

“He’s doing better now. He’s in stable condition, but he really had everyone worried for a while. He had a pretty serious heart attack, and has a severe concussion and a few bruised ribs.”

“Jesus," Dean breathed, "What happened?”

“He…well, he was drunk and tried getting in a fight. Then…I don’t know, when he’s awake he doesn’t make much sense, but I guess it was too much excitement and his heart just…” there was a muffled sob on the other end of the line. Mary wasn't able to finish her sentence.

“Shit. Mom, I’m sure he’s gonna be okay. You said he's stable now; I'm sure he's going to get better. Are the concussions and the ribs from the fight?”

“No,” Mary huffed, “According to a witness, it wasn’t even really a fight. Just John screaming and trying to hit… _this person_ until the man left.”

Dean narrowed his eyes. When it came to the Winchesters, Mary was the worst at hiding things (the main reason Dean didn’t want her knowing about him being alive). Next came Sam. After that, Dean wasn’t sure who was the better liar—him or John. It was probably him, if he was being honest. Point is, Mary Winchester is a terrible liar. And the way she said “person” instantly had him suspicious. He made a note to come back to that. “So the concussion…?”

“You know the stairs outside Caffrey’s?”

Caffrey's- John Winchester's favorite bar. Outside the bar was an incredibly dangerous steep flight of concrete steps (Which really was poorly placed. Dean remembered there being a big fuss about it by some local councilman back when he was a kid). “Yeah?”

“He fell down them.”

Dean cringed. “Oh my God. Ow.”

“I know,” Mary said, sniffing loudly. “My poor baby,” she cooed.

“You’re with him right now?” Dean guessed, “Wait, who does he think you’re talking to?”

“He’s asleep.”

“Oh. Okay. Mom, who was he arguing with? And I thought you said he was doing better with his drinking.”

“He is! Yesterday was different,” Mary said nervously. "The situation was...extreme."

“How so? Mom, I _know_ you’re keeping something from me—“

“Fine! Alastair. He was arguing with Alastair.”

“ _Why_ was he arguing with Alastair?” Dean hissed.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I did _not_ tell your father that you’re still alive. Please give me _some_ credit.”

“Alright. You wanna explain, then?”

“We went to brunch after church and ran into Alastair—“

“Hold up. You guys go to _church?_ Since when?”

“We’ve been going for years now. Since Sam started high school.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“Anyways, we ran into Alastair at brunch and John was just so _friendly_ with him and it was _killing me_ that he didn’t know what happened—and of course, your father mentioned afterward how coldly I treated Alastair. I had to tell him a little bit of the story, honey. Just to keep from accidentally revealing everything. You know how bad I am at keeping secrets—“

“What did you tell him?!”

“Just that I found out everything you used to say against Alastair was true. I told John that I talked with Rufus and…that he witnessed Alastair mistreating you.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, leaning against his counter. “So you lied?”

“No! I really _did_ speak with Rufus.”

“ _Mom!”_

“I had to thank him for saving my son, and I will not apologize for that. He asked after you; I told him you were doing well.”

Dean groaned, even though a part of him was secretly pleased to have his overly caring, meddlesome, and exasperating mother back in his life. He’d forgotten what it was like, having someone care for him in that way. While he thought of Ellen as a mother, their relationship was different.

“Dean, I know you won’t want to, but _please_ consider coming to visit your father while he’s in the hospital.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Sweetheart, will you at least hear me out?”

With a sigh, Dean nodded, drumming his fingers on the counter. “Fine,” he said after realizing she couldn’t see the gesture.

“Thank you. Dean, John was _devastated_ when I told them we were wrong about Alastair. You should have seen his face. He feels _so_ guilty—“

“He should.”

“I know he should. I should too, and I do. We almost ruined your life, and that’s something we’ll live with for the rest of our lives. But Dean, John thinks you _died_ hating him, and now he thinks it's his fault- he didn't listen to you, so you ran away and got hurt because of him. He thinks he’ll never get to see you, or hold you, or tell you how sorry he is—“

“Mom, I don’t—“

“You know he won’t try to mate you off to Alastair now that he knows how horrid the man is, right?”

“Then he’ll try mating me off to someone else!”

“Your father may be stubborn, but I swear he’s learned his lesson. And he just wants you happy—if he sees how happy he is, of course he wouldn’t try to change that. If he does, I’ll put my foot down this time. If that’s what you’re worried about—that your dad will pick another mate for you—I promise you, you have nothing to fear.”

“Mom, I’m sorry, but no. I’m not goin’ anywhere near Lawrence.”

“But Dean—“

“This isn’t something I want to argue about, okay? Look, I hope dad gets better; I really do. But I’m not visiting. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright. I love you.”

“Love you too, mom,” he answered reflexively, barely thinking the words as he spoke them.

After hanging up the phone, Dean looked around his apartment, grabbed his keys, and headed right back out the door.

 

.

.

“Anna!” Castiel smiled after opening the door to reveal his sister on his doorstep. “This is a surprise.”

She came inside, a huge plastic bag on her arm.

“I expect unannounced visits from Gabriel, but I thought you were better than that.”

Anna laughed. “I’m here doing Gabriel’s bidding, actually.” She held up the bag. “He’s got date night with Kali, otherwise he’d be here himself.”

“Tell me that’s not more food,” Castiel groaned. Gabriel had been on an inventive streak with his bakery, and he’d been using Castiel and Anna as his taste testers. “He understands that my job requires a certain degree of physical fitness, doesn’t he? I can’t go eating his pies and cakes and cookies every day.”

“Well you know you don’t _have_ to eat the entire pie every time, Castiel. He promises this is the last time. New pie flavor—he wants your opinion.”

“Not yours?”

“I already had some. He made at least twenty pies. But I’ll have another piece, if it makes you feel better about not eating the whole pie yourself.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “That would be very comforting, Anna. Thank you.”

Anna grinned at him. “Anything for you, Castiel,” she teased, “I’ll get plates.”

“Is this flavor any good? If it’s another apple-carrot—“

Anna laughed, shuddering dramatically. “No. I wouldn’t have put you through that again. I think this one’s actually one of his best. It’s plum berry or something. By the way, I really can’t stay long. Five minutes tops.”

“Oh. Big plans?”

“Alek and I are catching a movie. That new Nicholas Sparks one.”

“I see. Alek picked the movie, then?”

“Hey, no matter what he says, he likes them too!” Anna giggled, hitting Castiel on the arm. “You’re just upset because everyone else is having date night and you’re not.”

“I’m not above admitting that.”

Anna’s face fell. “Aw, honey…” Fortunately, whatever “hang in there” speech she was about to give was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

“I’ll get it,” Castiel said, fleeing the kitchen.

He left Anna in the kitchen, slicing up the pie.

When he opened the door, the last person he was expecting to see was a certain beautiful, green-eyed omega, but there he was. Standing outside Castiel's house, the sun at his back and an annoyed look on his face. “Dean, what—“

“Am I being completely unreasonable?” Dean asked in lieu of a hello.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to, but I’m sure you’re not.”

That got Dean to relax. He’d been tense since he got off the phone with his mom. Before then, even. He almost smiled, the start of it playing around his lips, but he couldn't shrug this heavy feeling resting on his shoulders. It was guilt, he knew. And then there was the anger- anger that he even felt guilty in the first place, because he shouldn't. He'd done nothing wrong. He could always count on Cas to distract him.

“My mom called, and—can I come in?”

“Of course,” Cas said, stepping aside to let Dean in. “What did your mother have to say?”

“I guess my dad had…” Dean began, trailing off when he saw the purse hanging on the hook by the door. Shit. Cas had a girl over. It was stupid of him, just assuming Cas would be free and ready to listen to Dean bitch about his family life. Of course Cas had a life of his own. A _dating_ life, even. He could smell the faint traces of omega in the air.

Cas never even mentioned a girlfriend to him. Jesus, Dean had spilled his _entire life story_ to Cas, but Cas didn’t even think enough of Dean to mention a girlfriend?

Well that really hurt.

“Um. Shit. You have a guest over. I’m sorry, Cas, it’s really not a big deal. We can just talk later…”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Castiel said, grabbing Dean’s hand and dragging him into the kitchen. Dean squeaked in protest, but let Cas pull him along.

He tugged his hand free when they got to the kitchen. A gorgeous redheaded girl looked up and smiled at Cas. She was stunning. Elegant but simple, beautiful without really trying. She was tiny, too—with delicate features, big green eyes, and graceful movements.

She looked the way omegas were _supposed_ to look. Unlike Dean.

She probably acted the way omegas were supposed to act, too. Loyal but submissive, gentle and thoughtful. No alphas want a loud, boisterous omega with a bad attitude and a lifetime of baggage, no matter how progressive they seem. And that includes Cas, apparently.

“This is Dean,” Castiel said to the omega girl, his expression almost sheepish. The girl’s entire face lit up and she beamed at Dean, and she stepped around the counter to come up and shake Dean's hand. “Dean, this is Anna.”

Oh. Dean felt his face heat up, a little embarrassed about all the assumptions he'd jumped to now. Well this was awkward.

Anna. Castiel’s _sister._ He knew she was adopted, which now explained why they didn’t smell like they were related. As Anna approached, Dean finally picked up the nuances of her scent, the subtle flare that showed she was already mated, and he caught a glimpse of the mating mark on her neck.

“Castiel has told me a lot about you,” she said, still smiling as she looked Dean up and down. She spoke very deliberately, as if weighing each word before she spoke it. It was very reminiscent of her brother’s stiff way of speaking, and it made Dean smile.

“Uh, yeah. You too.”

“I’m sorry; I didn’t know Castiel was expecting company,” Anna apologized to Dean. “It wasn't my intention to intrude.”

“Oh, no—you're good," Dean said, employing his most charming smile, "He wasn’t expecting me. So you barged in on him too?”

Anna laughed. “In my defense, he rarely has plans—not counting work.”

“Cas, you know you have a problem when your sister and your best friend automatically assume you’re free.”

Cas made a face, and he definitely did _not_ preen at the words “best friend.” Nor did he miss Anna’s excited smile when Dean used his nickname for Castiel. “Dean,” he began, changing the subject, “You’ve arrived just in time for pie.”

He loved the way Dean’s face lit up, whatever had been bothering him before forgotten. He was glad he was the one that put that smile on Dean's face. Dean glanced at Anna, expression uncharacteristically shy, and it was probably the most adorable he’d ever been.

“I don't know, Cas...you're hanging out with your sister and I don't want to get in the way...”

Before Castiel could respond, Anna jumped in. “You wouldn’t be! I was leaving soon anyways. It’s date night,” she said, shooting Cas a subtle smirk, “I’m leaving soon.”

Cast narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn’t even _trying_ to hide her enthusiasm about this, was she?

“I don’t know if I told you, but Gabriel owns a bakery,” Cas said, trying to divert Dean’s attention from his not-so-subtle sister. Dean nodded. “He always experiments and makes new things, and Castiel and I are his guinea pigs.”

Dean chuckled. “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad. Not when you get pie out of the deal.”

“Dean is a connoisseur of fine pies,” Castiel explained to Anna.

“Oh, well Gabriel’s going to _love_ you. Finally, someone who will actually enjoy testing his creations. I don't mean to be abrupt, by my movie's starting soon and I have to go, Castiel. It was wonderful meeting you, Dean, really.”

“You didn’t even have a piece,” Castiel argued, frowning.

“Yeah, well, now you have Dean to split it with you,” she said, smiling sweetly at the alpha. In a stage whisper, she said to Dean, “He was worried he would get fat if he ate it all himself.”

Castiel groaned. “And on that note, I’m making you get out before you reveal any of my other insecurities to Dean,” Cas said, ushering Anna out of his kitchen.

“Oh, you mean like how you wet the bed until you were ten?” she asked innocently, waving a goodbye to Dean over her shoulder.

Dean laughed, waving back, and turned his attention to Gabriel’s pie.

When they were alone in the foyer, Anna turned to Cas and jumped up and down excitedly, her grin completely manic. “He’s so _cute!_ ” she hissed.

“Will you _be quiet?_ ” Castiel hissed back. “Don’t you have a movie to get to?”

“I know. Just…go and flirt or something, will you? I think he likes you!”

“Anna, you know I trust your opinion, but you don’t know anything about him.”

“Alright. Fine. We’ll just see who’s right in the long run.”

“I suppose we will. Have fun on your date night.”

“You too,” Anna said, winking in a way that showed she’d been spending way too much time with Gabriel before closing the door on her way out.

 

“So,” Dean began when Cas came back into the kitchen. “Wet the bed for _ten years,_ huh?”

“It's not _that_ unusual,” Castiel scoffed, blushing, “Would you like some a beer?”

“Uh, abso-freaking-lutely.”

Castiel nodded, opening the fridge. He was just popping the cap off the first bottle when Dean moaned, his mouth closed around a forkful of Gabriel’s pie. Castiel squeaked and almost dropped the bottle, looking at Dean with wide eyes.

“Sorry,” Dean mumbled around the fork, not looking very sorry at all, “’S good.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Gabriel you said that,” Cas managed to squeak out. “Would you like to move this to the couch?”

Dean raised an eyebrow, making Castiel realize what his request sounded like. “No. I didn’t mean it like that. I meant—“

Dean laughed, shaking his head. “Couch is fine.” Dean said, grabbing his and Castiel’s plate and leaving Castiel to follow him with the beer.

Dean loved Castiel’s living room. It had that put-together element you’d see in a Pottery Barn catalogue, but it was homey, too. Better than Dean’s threadbare couch and empty walls.

Dean didn’t care about his apartment being “homey.” He always sort of thought of it as a temporary living arrangement, not somewhere he’d want to spend the rest of his life. So he just didn’t care what it looked like. He didn’t care that there were no pictures on the wall, or that he didn’t have any fancy furniture and couldn’t decorate for shit. He normally didn't care that his house wasn't a home.

But being in Castiel’s house was a nice change. Cas really had his life put together, unlike Dean.

“So what did you want to talk about earlier?” Cas asked when they were both settled on opposite ends of his couch with their pie and their beer. It pulled Dean out of his musings and back to reality.

“My dad had a heart attack last night.”

“Oh,” Cas said, unsure of whether he should give his condolences or not.

“Yep. While trying to get in a fight with Alastair.”

“ _What?_ ” Cas asked, eyes widening. “Did your mother tell him anything?”

“No, she didn’t,” Dean said, chuckling at Castiel’s worried expression. He explained the situation to Cas—everything Mary told John and everything she said to Dean on the phone. He even told Cas what he’d been thinking before Mary’s call—about how there was a part of him that wanted to forgive John but there was another part of him that just couldn’t.

“I’m not being totally unreasonable if I don’t wanna visit him, right?” he asked when he’d finished.

“I wouldn’t say _unreasonable,_ no,” Cas said, playing with the lip of his beer bottle.

“You think it’s the wrong choice?” Dean challenged.

“…No,” Cas said. Dean looked like he was about to interrupt, so Castiel continued. “Let me explain. I hesitate because I don’t think there _is_ a right choice. Look at your life here, Dean. You have friends. You’ve made your own family here. If that’s enough for you, you have your answer.”

“I don't _know_ if it's enough, that's why I need advice! And you’re being _no_ help whatsoever, Cas.”

“You have good memories of your father as well?”

“I…" Dean paused, thinking about it, "Yeah, I do. I mean, he was a good dad, up till when I presented, you know? He taught me how to ride a bike, how to fix a car, all the stuff dads do, you know? And even after I presented he wasn’t _bad,_ he just made the wrong choices. But he did the best he could.”

“But you’re worried about Alastair. And the law.”

“Obviously.”

“You want my opinion, Dean?” Cas asked calmly. “When I was six, my father abandoned us. He abandoned his mate, his five youngchildren. He left in the middle of the night—leaving us with no note, no explanations, and no apologies, just a million questions.”

“I didn’t know that,” Dean said quietly. Cas was staring out the window, long, deft fingers still playing with his beer bottle. The sun had started to set while they’d been talking, and at this point neither wanted to get up to turn on the light. This resulted in Castiel’s face being half-lit by the sun, half hidden in shadow.

Cas looked at Dean suddenly, catching the omega’s gaze and holding it.

“I still love my father, despite everything he’s done, and I would do _anything_ to get him back. I can’t. _He doesn’t want me._ You have a father who, despite everything, loves you and may be looking to make up for the wrong he has done. Why would you give up an opportunity like that?”

Dean took a deep breath. This time it was his turn to look away.

“You wanted my opinion; that was it.”

What if he’s not, though?” Dean asked quietly, “Trying to make up for the shit he’s done, I mean. What if he hasn’t changed?”

“Then you come back home. You talk to me about it. Charlie makes you watch a Dr. Sexy marathon to cheer you up, and Benny claps you on the back and calls you ‘brother,’ inviting you to his next ‘wine and cheese party’ with Andrea.”

Dean snorted.

“You go have dinner with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo, or maybe go to a museum with Sam. Together we all remind you that family doesn’t end with blood, but it doesn’t start with it either. But I know you, Dean. If you don’t go, the guilt and the ‘what ifs’ will keep rising to the surface no matter how hard you try to repress them.”

“Damn it, Cas.”

“What?”

“I can’t argue with any of that. I guess…you’re right. I’ll go visit my dad.”

“Well I don’t know if _that’s_ a good idea.”

“ _What?_ Cas, then what the hell was that whole fucking speech?!”

“I think you’re right in telling John you’re still alive, but I wouldn’t recommend going to Lawrence. Alastair is still in Lawrence.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Cas, I’m not some 13 year old twink anymore. I’ve handled much worse than _Alastair_. As long as I don’t have to worry about the legal part—dad trying to mate me off—then I’m not worried about Alastair.”

“I still don’t think—“

“Cas, I’m probably not gonna be anywhere but the hospital and my parent’s house. Ideally, no one’s even going to know I’m home.”

“Sam’s going with you?”

“I haven’t talked to him about it, but probably.”

“If he can’t leave his internship, would you consider letting me accompany you?”

Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “What, you wanna come home with me to meet my parents?”

“I’m just concerned for your safety, Dean. I don’t like the idea of you even being in the same _city_ as Alastair.”

“Cas, I appreciate it. Really, I do. But it’s Sam or nothing—this is just something I need to do alone, kay?” He also thought some time away from Cas might do him some good, but he wasn’t about to voice that out loud.

Cas nodded. “I understand. Just promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“You know me, always careful,” Dean said, winking and stretching.

“Dean, that’s really not comforting.”

“Ugh, _fine,_ Cas. I promise I’ll be careful. I should probably go—I probably won’t leave until tomorrow, but I’ve got a long drive ahead of me.”

“You’re driving all the way there?”

“Hell yeah. I do _not_ do planes. Hey, tell your brother he’s a pie god for me, and I definitely wanna try his next creation. And I’ll probably call you from Lawrence, tell you how things go down. Hopefully I’ll have good news.”

“I’m confident that you will.”

“We’ll see. Bye Cas, see ya who-knows-when.”

 

.

.

On the drive back home, Dean called Bobby to beg for a few days off.

“Son,” Bobby had responded, “In all the years you’ve worked for me, I can count the number of days you’ve taken off on one hand. You do what you need to do and take as long as you need.”

When he got home, he found Sam in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal.

“It’s ten o’clock at night, Sammy. What the hell are you eating for?”

Sam ignored him, instead employing his innocent puppy-eyed look. “Mom said she talked to you.”

“Yeah. You doing okay?”

“I am. I mean, it's hard to hear- Dad always seemed so...I don't know. Untouchable.”

"Yeah. I hear ya."

Sam nodded, watching Dean like he was worried his older brother was about to spontaneously combust. “Yeah. Dean, I want you to know that I’ll support you no matter what you decide to do. If you don’t want to go see dad, I get it, and I—“

“Easy, dude! Stop acting like we’re at DEFCON 1, here. I’m fine.”

“Yeah?” Sam asked hesitantly, clearly not believing Dean.

“Yeah. Now pack your bags; we’re going to Lawrence.”

“Wait, really?”

“Oh my God, Sam! Yes, really!”

“It’s just…mom said you told her no.”

“Well, I changed my mind. Your internship people won’t mind you leaving for a few days, will they?”

“My dad had a _heart attack_. I’ll only be missing a few days. They’ll be fine.”

“Alright. Then get some sleep. Tomorrow, bright and early, we’re leaving for Lawrence.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, guys. I'm a big sucker for John redeeming himself. I know you all love lots of angst, but I promise you you still won't be disappointed!
> 
> But what do y'all think? Is Dean's plan a good one or a bad one? Are Castiel's worries sound?


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the fluffly little trope I dropped in the middle of the chapter...I WILL APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING. There aren't enough fics with that trope and there need to be more. It was also my little apology for the angst I drop later in the chapter. (Cue: Alastair)

They left early the next morning and made it to Lawrence by late afternoon. For the first few hours of the drive, Sam kept trying to strike up his heartfelt, “let’s-share-our-feelings” conversations with Dean. Dean usually responded by rolling the windows down and turning the music up.

Somewhere between Sam’s tenth and twentieth dramatic sigh, Dean groaned and turned off his music. “ _What_?”

“Nothing.”

“Let it out, will you? So I can go back to enjoying the drive.”

“I just don’t get what changed your mind. For years, you were adamant that nobody know you’re alive. No we’re taking a spontaneous trip to Lawrence? I don’t get it, man.”

“I’m just sick of hiding, okay? That’s not who I am. Honestly, I get that this might end badly, but I’m done worrying about dad and Alastair. I’ve wasted ten years of my life keeping my head down and watching my step, and I’m done. Look, I’m really hoping dad’s changed, but if he hasn’t, I’m sure as hell gonna show him that _I_ have. I’m a grown ass man and a _federal agent_ , for crying out loud, and I’m not putting up with this bullshit anymore. You with me on this or what?”

“Yeah, absolutely. You know I am.”

“Good,” Dean said, turning the music back on.

After that, their conversation was much lighter. Sam gushed about Jess for at least half an hour, and then Dean told some stories about the weirdest cases he’d worked.

They stopped and got lunch eventually, and Sam’s gigantic, freakishly tall alpha presence proved helpful in warding off a pushy alpha that was annoying Dean while he was getting gas.

A little while after that, Sam fell asleep in the car and Dean, dutiful big brother as he was, put a plastic spoon in his little brother’s mouth and took a picture. Sam was annoyed when he woke up.

“You wanna do the prank thing?” Sam challenged, “We can do the prank thing. I’ve got a whole bunch of ideas, and you’re not gonna like ‘em.”

Dean called a truce.

 

He finally started getting nervous as they reached the outskirts of Lawrence, and Sam definitely sensed it.

“Dean, this is a big step and if you’re not ready, then you don’t have to do this. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Dean sighed, “I know. I can do it, I’m just freaking out a little.”

It was weird, being back in Lawrence. He only recognized a few of the buildings. Most of the shops and businesses he remembered from his childhood were gone, replaced by newer things. So much had changed, but it was still the same town.

They went straight to the hospital, knowing no one would be at home—Mary would be with John.

“Hey,” Sam began as they got out of the Impala. He stretched, looking around the hospital’s parking structure. “Did you ever tell mom we were coming?”

“Uh…I thought you were going to do it.”

“No…”

“Well I definitely didn’t do it.”

“Neither did I. Great,” Sam huffed, “Let’s just give _both_ our parents heart attacks.”

Dean trailed behind his younger brother, biting his lip. He stopped walking when they neared the hospital doors. “You know what, Sammy? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea…you go ahead; I’ll just wait in the car.”

“No way are you backing out now, jerk. Now come on; we’re going to see our dad.”

“Bitch,” Dean grumbled under his breath, following after Sam.

 

.

Inside the hospital, Sam stepped up to the front desk where a pretty brunette nurse sat, working on a stack of paperwork in front of her. “Uh, excuse me? We’re looking for John Winchester’s room. We’re his sons.”

Dean let Sam handle the situation, barely listening as the nurse rattled off some directions. His heart was beating too loudly for him to think, let alone put together enough words to formulate a sentence. His palms were sweaty and he knew his nervousness was starting to bleed through to his scent, suppressants be damned. He just wanted to run back to the car, maybe lock the doors so Sam couldn’t find him and drag him back in here.

The nurse glanced at Dean curiously. “You’re _both_ John Winchester’s sons?”

The nurse was gorgeous. A tall and tan beta girl with brown eyes, dark hair, and a gorgeous smile. A couple months ago, she would’ve been just Dean’s type. For some reason, he just wasn’t feeling it anymore. Hadn’t been for a while—it had been way too long since he’d gone out and had a good lay.

He had a feeling it had something to do with his suppressants going on the fritz—they just didn’t seem to work the way they used to. He really should see Dr. Barnes about that…

“Dean?” the nurse asked hesitantly.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh…yeah?”

“Oh my God! I don’t believe it! It’s Lisa! Lisa Braeden!” she said, standing up excitedly and stepping around the desk. “We went to elementary school together, remember?”

“As in Lisa, the quiet girl with the headgear and the Lisa Frank shirts?”

Lisa laughed. “Oh God, please don’t ever bring that up. That’s so embarrassing. You look great!”

She pulled Dean into a tight hug.

“You too,” Dean said with a charming smirk, stepping back letting his eyes rake up and down the nurse’s body. It was a defense mechanism, really. To give him some semblance of normalcy in this weird, fucked up situation. “Really, really great.”

Lisa blushed and giggled. She was about to say something, but Sam cleared his throat loudly. “Uh, Dean? Dad in the hospital, remember?”

“Oh. Right. I gotta go, Lisa. It was nice seeing you— maybe we can talk later.”

“Sure!” Lisa said eagerly, “Hey, how long are you going to be in town? Some friends and I will be at Caffrey’s on Friday night, if you’d like to join…”

“Maybe, yeah,” Dean smiled, turning back to face her when Sam started dragging him away by the arm, “I’ll see if I can make it.”

“Really?” Sam huffed once they were away from Lisa, giving Dean the bitch face.

“You can’t shut this down, Sammy,” Dean smirked.

 

They found John’s room easily, and Sam had to physically drag Dean inside. Mary was sitting beside the bed. Looking up when they entered, her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide.

“Sam! Dean! What are you—I thought you weren’t coming!”

“Surprise,” Dean said with a weak smile. He felt like he was going to be sick, his eyes falling on the hospital bed.

John Winchester was laying on the bed. He wasn’t awake, fortunately, which gave Dean a chance to ease into this situation.

He suddenly understood what Sam was saying earlier, about John always seeming unbreakable. This man, lying unconscious in a hospital bed, wasn’t the father that Dean remembered. He’d never seen John looking so…peaceful.

There was a cut on his head, a bandage on his wrist, and a few bruises scattered across his skin, but those weren’t the only changes. His hair was shorter and thinner, his beard completely gray. He was physically much thinner, too. Dean figured that came from cutting down on his drinking. If it weren’t for all the injuries, Dean would’ve said he actually looked _healthier._

He looked gentler now, softer around the edges. Maybe it was just because he was sleeping, or maybe he’d softened with age—as Sam and Mary insisted he had.

“Let’s talk in the hallway,” Mary whispered, standing, “I don’t want to wake him.”

Sam and Dean nodded and followed her outside, Dean casting one last glance at John.

“He’s been asking for you,” Mary said once she, Sam, and Dean were out in the hallway and she’d eased the door shut, leaving it open just a crack.

“For Sam?” Dean asked just as Sam asked, “For me?”

“Well for Sam, yes,” Mary smiled, “But also for Dean.”

“What?” Dean demanded, immediately going on the defensive, “Why? How can he be asking for _me?_ ”

Mary smiled sadly. “He was delirious; he didn’t actually know what he was saying. I think it’s the medicine he’s on, in addition to the concussion and the fact that he was thinking about you right before it happened.”

“Oh.”

“He’s gotten more aware the longer he’s been here, but he was really bad that first night. He kept asking where you both were, why you weren’t here with us. He kept saying that he really needed to talk to you, Dean.”

“You said he’s doing better now?” Sam asked when Dean didn’t say anything.

Mary nodded, looking at the window to John’s room where they could still see the man sleeping. Her lips trembled, and Sam stepped again in before the full waterworks could start.

“I’m glad, but what about _you_? Mom, you look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?”

Mary yawned, as if Sam’s comment reminded her how tired she really was. “I don’t know. I’ve been here for two days. I’ve gone home for naps, but that’s it.”

“Mom, that’s terrible. You should go get some sleep.”

“Not now. Not when you’re both really here,” she said, reaching up to caress Dean’s cheek fondly while she spoke, “Thank you for coming. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Dean shrugged, avoiding her gaze.

“Well…I haven’t eaten yet today,” Mary began, dropping her hand. “There’s a cafeteria just downstairs. Would you two like to join me? You can tell me about your flight.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah, we _would’ve_ flown…if this one wasn’t terrified of planes.”

“ _Still_?” Mary laughed.

“I’m not _terrified!_ ” Dean hissed.

“Dean, you _drive_ all the way to California. You’re terrified.”

“No, I just don’t like them. Baby loves long drives anyways.”

“His car,” Sam explained when he saw Mary’s confused expression. “We just ate a few hours ago, but sure, we’ll come with.”

“Actually,” Dean began, “You guys can go ahead without me. I just need a little while to get my thoughts together.”

“Of course,” Mary said, kissing Dean’s cheek. “Come join us whenever you want.”

Once they were gone, Dean started pacing outside John’s room. Did he want to go in? He had to eventually. He didn’t want to join Sam and his mom, didn’t think he could sit downstairs and chat—not knowing that his dad was just upstairs.

He needed to get this over with.

After his fifth or sixth time passing the door, he slipped inside and sat in the chair farthest from John’s bed as possible. He wrinkled his nose. He could barely make out his dad’s scent over the sterile, hospital smell.

He’d been sitting there less than ten minutes when John began to stir.

Dean’s breath caught in his throat when John’s eyes fluttered open, landing directly on him. What he didn’t expect was his dad’s bored expression. The alpha sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

“This is new,” he said after a minute.

“Uh…what?” Dean asked dumbly. John looked at him again, frowning this time.

“You’re usually younger.”

“I’m…what?”

“Dean.”

“…Yeah?”

John sighed again, shaking his head. “I get it. This is the life I took away from you or whatever. I just wish you would leave me alone.”

Dean made a face, more confused than he’d ever been in his life. He decided to say so. “I’m confused.”

“This is a hallucination, right? I usually imagine you much longer. Like you were that morning before you disappeared.”

“You think this is a…dad, this isn’t a hallucination. I’m really here.”

“Right,” John snorted, “It’s not like you’ve been dead for ten years or anything.”

“I haven’t been!” Dean said, standing up. “Look, can you smell me? You think your subconscious can make up my scent like that? Or imagine me older with so much detail?”

John’s eyebrows drew together, his frown deepening. “If you’re really here…” he began slowly, clearly not believing the words he was speaking. He held a hand out to Dean. “Then take my hand.”

Dean stared at the proffered hand. Did he even _want_ to take it? He could still flee, have John chalk this entire thing up to a hallucination. Pretend none of this ever happened.

John’s hand was visibly shaking, whether from his injuries or the situation was anybody’s guess. Taking a deep breath, Dean stepped forward and took his dad’s hand.

John gasped at the contact, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

“Please don’t have another heart attack on me,” Dean mumbled.

John placed his free hand on top of Dean’s, staring at their hands with wide eyes. He looked up, studying Dean’s face more closely. “Now I’m the one that’s confused.”

Dean breathed out a shaky laugh.

“ _Dean_?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell ya.”

John nodded, his expression dazed. He looked around the room. “Where’s your mother? I’m still not convinced you’re not some kind of ghost.”

“Didn’t think you believed in ghosts,” Dean said, claiming the chair that Mary was sitting in earlier. “She’s downstairs with Sam, getting food.”

“Sam’s here?”

“Yeah. We just drove in from Chicago.”

“You were in Chicago?”

“I live in Chicago,” Dean nodded.

“You…” John trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut. “And how long have you lived in Chicago?”

“Oh, about seven or eight years.”

“I don’t understand.”

Dean was about to explain, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. An older nurse came in, glaring at Dean. “Are you allowed to be in here?”

John immediately relaxed, apparently relieved that he wasn’t the only one that could see Dean. He waved the nurse off. “He’s my son.”

“Ah,” the nurse said, still looking at Dean suspiciously. “I just came in to check on you—your heart was beating pretty quickly.”

“I’m sorry, Missouri,” John said, smiling at the nurse, “I’m fine. Dean’s visit just surprised me.”

“No more surprises, then,” the nurse— Missouri— warned Dean.

“I’ll do my best,” Dean said, mimicking his father’s charming smile.

Once Missouri left them alone, John turned back to Dean expectantly. “Are you ever going to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

Dean sighed. Same old dad, still gruff as ever. Had he changed at all? “I didn’t die, dad. I ran away. I had to.”

John nodded, looking down at where he still held onto Dean’s hand. And _holy shit that was a tear._ John Winchester was _crying._ He took a deep, shaky breath, obviously trying to fight it off, but Dean had already seen the damage. Well _that_ definitely wasn’t like the old John.

“You left because of Alastair?” he asked, clearing his throat loudly when his voice cracked.

“Yeah,” Dean said, leaning back in his seat.

“Your mother told me…All those times you complained about him and I didn’t believe you…she told me that all those times, you were telling the truth. Dean…I am so, _so_ sorry. You’ve got no reason to forgive me, I know. I was an asshole. I thought I was doing what’s best for you, but clearly, I wasn’t.”

“No, you weren’t,” Dean agreed. “I was _miserable,_ and you weren’t listening to me, and you’re damn right you should feel bad about it. It took Alastair trying to _rape me_ for me to finally try to get away from you—“

“He _what?!”_ John shouted, making Dean jump in his seat. John tried to sit up, but Dean pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Dad, your heart. You’re gonna—“

“That _bastard!_ I swear to God, when I get out of here I’m going to—“

“Dad! Chill out, will you? He didn’t get away with it, and Rufus kicked his ass for even trying. Everything’s fine!”

“Rufus…” John cringed. “ _Rufus_ shouldn’t have _had to,_ Dean! _I_ should’ve been there! None of this should have happened in the first place!”

The door flew open, an angry-looking Missouri standing in the doorway. “That’s it. I think you’ve had enough visiting time—“

“No, no, no!” Dean whined, holding his hands up. “I’ll be good, promise.”

“And I’ll…meditate or something to calm down,” John promised. “Don’t make him leave.”

“Fine, but your heart rate goes up _one more time_ and he’s out of here,” Missouri said, closing the door behind her.

“You gonna listen to me now?” Dean challenged.

“I think it’s about damn time I start,” John said with a sigh.

“You’re in the wrong here, and I think you know that. What happened sucked, an’ I’m still pissed at you, but…a friend of mine convinced me to give you another chance, if you’re willing to listen to me for a change.”

“I am. I promise. Dean, I’ll do anything—“

“Good. You’re on shaky ground here. I’m talking _super_ probation—one wrong move from you and I’m packing my bags and you’re never going to see me again.”

“Understood.”

“And heart attack or not, I won’t hesitate to kick your ass. I’ve taken down alphas much bigger and stronger in my time.”

John frowned, but didn’t say anything. He seemed to be taking Dean’s warning to heart and didn’t press for answers.

“I’m your equal, you got that? That means no more trying to mate me off, ‘cause I’m my own person and I can make my own decisions, you understand?”

John nodded, listening and taking Dean’s anger until Dean finally ran out of things to say. After Dean had been quiet for a while, John spoke. “Dean…I’ve made so many mistakes, I get that now. I put too much on your shoulders; I made you grow up too fast. I won’t make those same mistakes again, you have my word.”

“It’s okay, dad,” Dean said, smiling for the first time since the conversation started. It was just a small smile, but it was a start. He had the feeling they were gonna be okay. “It’s over now, kay? Can we just move on from this point?”

John nodded. “That sounds good to me. I’ve never been good at these…chick flick talks.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, me neither. I guess I know where I got that from.”

“So…your mother. She knew?”

“Only for a couple of weeks. She found out when she visited Sam, ‘cause he lives with me. He knew too, obviously. Has for about four years—since he started at Stanford.”

“Anybody else know?”

“In Lawrence? Nah. No one but Rufus. He, uh…he’s the one that helped me get away. Sent me to live with a friend of his in Sioux Falls.”

“Yeah? Do you have a job? Or…a significant other?”

“Yes to the first question, no to the second.”

“Are you happy?”

“Yeah. I really am. I’ve got a good life.”

“I’m glad. What do you do?”

“I work for the OPA, actually,” Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, “I’m even next in line to be director of the Chicago branch.”

John’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” he laughed, “You became a fed, huh?”

“Just another thing I picked up from you, Officer Winchester,” Dean said, smiling back.

John snorted. “I’ve been off the force for years. Own an auto shop now.”

“No kidding. Wait till you see my car. You’re gonna love it—it’s a ’67 Impala, in perfect condition.”

“Damn,” John whistled.

The door opened. Dean looked up, expecting Missouri again, but saw his mother instead. She was looking over her shoulder, laughing at something Sam was saying, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Dean and John. “Oh.”

She walked slowly into the room, Sam creeping in behind her. They both looked way more nervous than the situation warranted. “So the two of you are…you’ve been talking?”

“Obviously,” Dean rolled his eyes.

“Don’t sass me, young man,” Mary scolded, coming up and patting Dean’s cheek.

“Hey, dad,” Sam said, giving John a one-armed hug.

“Sam. Good to see you, son.”

“So…” Sam began cautiously, “You two okay?”

John looked at Dean for the answer.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded, “We’re okay.”

 

Surprisingly enough, things really were okay. Once they got over the initial awkwardness, Dean and John actually got along surprisingly well. Their relationship went back to the way it was before Dean presented. John treated Dean with more respect than Dean had ever gotten from _anyone,_ and it made a nice change.

John loved listening to Dean’s OPA stories; they helped distract him from how badly he wanted to get out of his “damn confining hospital bed.” Dean’s stories also helped Mary and Sam; they kept them from having to put up with John’s constant complaining.

They avoided talking about the past. Unlike Mary and Sam, Dean and John preferred to look forward and to avoid looking back. No sense bringing up past wrongs.

On Thursday, John was cleared to go home. Mary made her homemade pie for after dinner, but she promised John that they were both changing their diet as soon as Sam and Dean went back home.

“Please, don’t ever go home,” John had begged them once Mary was out of the room.

They all hung out, watched a movie together, and it was _weird._ It was weird being with his family again, in his old house. It was almost like nothing had changed.

The next day, Mary, John, and Sam were in the living room. Sam was reading and John was sprawled out on the couch, half asleep. Mary was watching some cooking show.

Dean was pacing around the house, on the phone with Cas, unaware that everyone was listening in on his side of the conversation.

Cas was complaining about Gabriel’s most recent antics, which apparently involved abandoning Castiel at dinner with his oldest brother Michael.

“He went to a _candy shop!_ ” Cas was complaining, “He left me with _Michael_ for a _candy shop!_ ”

Dean laughed. “When am I gonna meet this brother of yours, Cas? Not gonna lie, he sounds kinda awesome.”

Dean was walking past the living room when he heard Mary ask Sam if he knew who Dean was talking to.

“Hang on a second, Cas,” Dean said, muting his phone and waiting to hear Sam’s answer.

“Oh, just his boyfriend,” Sam shrugged, turning the page of his book.

Dean backtracked so he was standing in the doorway. He glared at his younger brother. “ _Sam!”_ he hissed, “He is _not_ —“ he turned to his mom, “Cas is a coworker. And a friend. We are _not_ together.”

“Right,” Sam snorted, “Yeah, and Jess and I are just friends, too. Cas is Dean’s best friend— they talk _all the time,_ they stare at each other like there’s nobody else in the room and honestly, it makes me a little uncomfortable—“

“We do not! Shut up! Sam’s just a dirty liar.”

Dean stormed out of the room, unmuting his phone. “Sorry about that.”

“Is there a problem?” Cas asked, the concern in his voice evident.

“No, Sammy’s just being a little shit.”

Cas chuckled. “So you know my pain, then.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Dean—“ Sam began, suddenly right behind Dean. Dean jumped about a foot in the air, and clutched his phone to his chest.

“Jesus! You’re worse than Cas! I’m getting you both bells! Just hang on a second, Sammy. Cas—you there? I’m gonna let you go, kay? I’ll probably be back this weekend, so I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“Have fun, and be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Talk to you later—I love you.”

“Yep, love you too,” Dean answered reflexively, hanging up the phone.

It wasn’t until he saw Sam’s face that he realized something was wrong.

“What?” he asked.

Sam freaking _giggled._ “You, uh…you _love_ him?”

Dean frowned. “Dude. What the hell are you talking about?”

Dean’s confusion made Sam laugh even harder, and it was a while before he got an answer out of the kid. “You just…you just told him you _love him._ ”

“What! No, I didn’t! Did I? Fuck, I totally did. Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” he repeated, pulling out his phone to call Cas back, “He said it first! It wasn’t me!”

Cas didn’t bother with a hello. “Dean, I apologize. I didn’t mean—“

“Yeah, me neither. I’m glad you didn’t—“

“—I only ever talk to my brother or my sister on the phone, so I instinctively—“

“Right. ‘Course. And mine was just reflexive. You know, ‘cause you said it—“

Sam was wheezing by this point, his hands on his knees and tears streaming from his eyes. “Oh my God. This is the greatest thing ever.”

“Well, uh,” Dean began, rubbing the back of his neck. He was pretty sure his face was as red as a tomato by this point. “I’m glad we cleared that up. Bye.”

“Goodbye,” Cas said in a strangled voice.

“ _It’s not funny, Sam!”_ Dean shouted once he was off the phone. He stormed into the kitchen, his hysterical brother trailing on his heels.

“Is everything okay in there?” Mary called from the living room.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dean called. He turned on Sam. “Don’t you _dare_ say anything! It was an accident, _okay_?”

“Right. Sure, Dean,” Sam grinned, following Dean into the living room.

As soon as Dean was seated, sprawling out on the ground next to the couch, Mary pounced. “So why is this the first I’m hearing about Cas?”

Dean groaned, and Sam launched into a whole new bout of laughter. “Because there’s nothing to tell, mom!”

“Is he an alpha?”

Dean sighed. “Yes.”

At this point, John sat up, no longer feigning disinterest in the conversation.

“What does he look like?” Mary pressed.

“I don’t know, mom. A person? Tall, dark hair, blue eyes…It’s not like I’ve really paid any particular attention.”

Sam snorted.

“Shut up, Sammy.”

Mary kept asking questions, apparently having an abundant supply of them. Is he mated? How’d you meet? How long have you known each other? What’s he like? You mentioned his brother—have you met any of his other siblings? How does Sam know him? Do you spend time together often?

“What do you think, dad?” Sam asked, smirking at Dean.

John froze like a deer in the headlights. “Well…I’m still on probation, so I 100% believe Dean when he says he and this ‘Cas’ are just friends.”

“Thank you!”

“But if I wasn’t, I would point out that Dean seems _suspiciously_ defensive about this.”

“You are _no_ help,” Dean growled, hopping up to grab a beer from the fridge.

They teased him _all_ day. Sam was the worst, breaking into a fit of giggles whenever he looked at Dean. Then there was Mary, interrogating him about Castiel whenever she got the chance. John claimed to believe Dean, but Dean caught him smiling at Mary’s questions and Sam’s jokes.

After dinner, when Sam started randomly giggling to himself for the millionth time, Dean finally had enough.

“You know what?” he asked, getting up. “I don’t need this bullshit. You know why? I have a hot nurse waiting to meet up with me at a bar. And _because I am single,_ I’m gonna go hang out with her. Don’t expect me back tonight.”

 

.

He did meet up with Lisa at Caffrey’s. Well, he met up with Lisa and _a dozen of her closest friends._ While Dean loved attractive women, he wasn’t too happy about having a dozen of them swarming around him. They were all so _noisy._ And they were all flirting—normally, he wouldn’t complain about that, but it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting from his evening. And there was this cloud of overly fruity perfume that followed them all wherever they went, and it just grated on his nerves. 

So when Lisa told them they were going to a different bar, batting her eye lashes and twirling a lock of hair between her fingers, he politely declined. She was obviously annoyed, storming off in a huff.

Dean decided to stay and nurse another beer, if only to make his family think he really was flirting with some pretty nurse.

Half an hour later, he decided he’d stayed long enough. He grabbed his keys and headed outside, glancing at the stairs his dad had fallen down before crossing the street to get to the parking lot.

He’d just reached the Impala when his phone went off in his pocket. He fished it out, seeing it was a text from Sam, promising he’d stop teasing Dean if he just came home.

Dean rolled his eyes and started to type a reply when a voice from behind nearly had him jumping out of his skin.

“You know at first, I didn’t believe it was really you. Then I saw your eyes, caught your scent—still so mouthwatering—and I just couldn’t deny it any more. Dean.”

The first thing Dean smelled was the alcohol. The alpha _reeked_ of it. Then he caught the man’s scent, the rancid scent he knew all too well. If possible, the alpha smelled even worse than he did all those years ago.

“Alastair.”

Dean turned to face the alpha. If he thought he was panicking earlier that week, when he was about to talk to John, that was nothing to how he felt now.

He glanced around— _of course_ he had to park in the darkest corner of the parking lot, because that was just his life.

Alastair took a step forward and Dean took a mirror step back, backing himself up against the Impala. It was like he was a friggin’ kid again. He couldn’t do anything but watch, wide-eyed and frozen as Alastair took a step closer.

“You have no idea how jealous it made me, Dean, flirting with that nurse. I don’t like sharing my possessions. You know this.”

“I’m not your _possession,_ asshole,” Dean growled, snarling at the alpha. "Never was."

“Why, because your daddy doesn’t like me anymore?” Alastair sneered, closing the distance between them and pressing Dean up against the hood of the Impala. Before Dean could react, Alastair reached up and closed a hand around Dean’s throat, holding Dean firmly in place. 

Dean _whimpered,_ like he was thirteen years old again and didn’t know how to defend himself, because he _didn’t._ He couldn’t think beyond the _wrong_ scent that was flooding his nostrils and the fear that was gripping him.

“Well, you’re right. You’re not mine. Not yet, at least—but you _will be_. As soon as I finish the job I started all those years ago,” Alastair sing-songed, grinding up against Dean.

The one good thing about the situation was that Dean’s suppressants finally decided to work. He wouldn’t give Alastair the satisfaction of reacting to the alpha’s hormones, at least.

“There’s no OPA agent around to save you _this time,_ bitch,” Alastair breathed against Dean’s jaw, his hand holding the omega’s head in place. With a harsh movement, he yanked Dean’s head back so his throat was exposed.

Dean cringed. Alastair was right. There was no OPA agents around—wait. What the hell was he even saying?  _Of course_ there was.

All of Dean’s training came back to him all at once. He reached up and went right for Alastair’s eyes, digging his thumbs into the alpha’s eye sockets. Alastair snarled and stepped back before Dean could cause any serious damage, but the movement freed Dean to move. He stepped forward, hitting the side of Alastair’s neck.

It sent him reeling. The asshole was drunk off his ass, and barely put up a fight as Dean hit him again and again and again. First a kick—as hard as he could—aimed at the alpha’s groin. Then, when Alastair doubled over in pain, Dean grabbed the alpha by the hair and slammed his knee up into Alastair’s face.

Alastair managed to throw Dean against the car next to them, getting a punch in before Dean could recover. Then Dean employed his favorite move, knocking Alastair’s legs out from under him, and he couldn’t resist aiming a final kick at the alpha’s side.

When Alastair finally looked up it was only to find a gun aimed at his face.

“You ungrateful little _bitch_ ,” Alastair spat, blood running down his face. Dean was pretty sure he broke the guy’s nose, and he didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse about it.

“Keep talking. You’re just making me want to blow your head off.”

“No one’s ever going to want you, you know that? You’ve got a pretty face, sure, but no alpha’s ever going to want a misbehaved, broken bitch like you.”

Dean took a deep breath, trying really hard to remind himself why he _shouldn’t_ pull the trigger.

“I’m going to press charges. Let’s see how you’re treated in jail, with a perky little ass like yours. What I did to you is going to seem like _child's play_.”

“Oh, you’re gonna press charges? That’s funny, because I can have you sent away for life for assaulting a federal agent, but if you wanna press charges, you go right ahead. Let’s see who they believe. Oh,” he said, tilting his head to one side thoughtfully, “And I guess that would involve you telling _everyone you know_ that you got your ass kicked by an omega. But really, go ahead.” Dean lowered his gun, looking down at Alastair in disgust. “Don’t you _ever_ try to touch me again, you hear me?”

With that, Dean walked away from the alpha. He got in his car and he drove away, feeling a sense of closure he had never thought he would be able to get.

He was almost home when he pulled over, staring out the window with a frown. Had that really just happened? He reached up to touch his eye, where Alastair had hit him during the fight. He winced when he touched the skin, realizing he was probably going to have a black eye. He was proud to say that he’d be looking better than the other guy.

He pulled out his phone and made a call, not quite ready to go home and face everyone yet. He knew he still smelled like Alastair, and he wasn’t ready for the questions.

“Dean?”

“Hey, sorry. I know it’s late. I just…I can’t go home right now, and I really need to talk to you—“

“Dean?” Cas repeated, picking up on the nervousness in Dean’s tone, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“The worst thing that could’ve happened,” Dean whispered. “But I mean, it went surprisingly well, considering.”

“Dean. Talk to me. I need you to tell me what happened.”

“I ran into Alastair." He heard Cas growl on the other line. "No, listen- it's okay. I went to a bar, and it was stupid, and he must’ve been there. I didn’t notice until I was outside—“

“Are you okay?!”

“Yeah. I am, really. I might be sporting a pretty bad black eye when you see me on Monday, but he’s gonna be a thousand times worse. The black eye is the worst thing I got out of the encounter.”

Castiel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Are you okay? Emotionally, I mean?”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah. I mean, I actually feel good. It’s bad to say, seeing as I just beat a guy bloody, but I feel much better than I have in a long time. Now that I’ve stood up to him once, I know he won’t be messing with me again.”

“Dean, I am so sorry. This is all my fault—I pushed you into making up with your father, and if it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have gone—“

“Cas. Relax. You warned me not to come to Lawrence, I was just an idiot and didn’t listen. I’m glad about what you said…glad me and dad are back on speaking terms, I mean.”

“Yes, but if anything had happened to you I would never be able to forgive myself—“

“Well it’s a good thing nothing happened to me, eh, Cas?” Dean asked, smiling.

Cas huffed. “You are incorrigible.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep talking nerdy to me, Cas. You know how much I love it.”

“But you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I really am.”

“Why were you at a bar in the first place?”

Dean cringed. He really didn’t want to mention Lisa. “Everyone was being annoying. I just needed to get away for a little while.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I’m gonna let you go, Cas, but thanks—talking to you has really helped.”

“Feel free to call again if you need me, Dean. No matter how late it is.”

“You’re not about to tell me you love me again, are you?”

“Shut up,” Cas laughed, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Nope,” Dean grinned, “I’ll see you Monday.”

“Monday it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you all know, Alastair's out of the picture for good now. I don't like angst that lasts the entire fic. BUT....I was just getting this angst out of the way to make room for even BETTER agnst, coming up next chapter! Stay tuned ;)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst, angst, and more angst. (With a light sprinkling of fluff and a healthy serving of schmoop)
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: (I wasn't sure if this needed a warning, especially as it gives away the contents of the chapter, but I'd much rather have this just in case.) The warning's for talk of/coping with infertility. I dunno. It gets intense and I'd just rather be safe than sorry.

They left for Chicago on Sunday. Mary cried while they said goodbye, and John came pretty damn close. Dean and Sam promised to call frequently, and Dean gave John and Mary an open invitation to visit whenever they wanted. He only asked that they give him advanced notice this time.

Dean was quiet most of the drive, and Sam kept shooting him worried glances. Sam probably worried he was thinking about Alastair again, Dean knew.

Boy, _that_ had been a disaster—coming home after he ran into Alastair. John almost had another heart attack, Mary broke down sobbing, and Dean had to physically restrain Sam from trying to hunt the asshole down, even though it was the middle of the night. He spent the next twenty minutes reassuring them all, telling them he was fine and that Alastair got much worse than he did.

He could tell Mary and John didn’t quite believe him on that last part, so he turned on his heel and knocked Sam to the ground, pinning the young alpha’s arms behind his back before Sam even knew what was happening.

“Hey!” Sam yelled, trying to throw Dean off him and failing miserably.

“ _See?”_ Dean had asked Mary, letting Sam up. _“_ I know what I’m doing, okay?”

After that, they believed him. John even laughed at Sam’s expense, and Sam and Mary glared at him for laughing.

But anyways, during the car ride what he was really worrying about was his suppressants. They were supposed to be really, _really_ strong, and they should’ve been preventing a lot more than they were preventing. Yeah, they were still doing the main part of their jobs—staving off his heats and keeping alpha hormones from getting him all hot bothered—but they _definitely_ weren’t doing their job as well as they used to.

He promised himself he would go see his doctor immediately when he got back. Hopefully she could strengthen them and the problem would be solved.

“I’m not thinking about Alastair,” Dean promised Sam, drawing his knees up to his chest looking away from the window. Sam had insisted they take turns driving this time, and though Dean fought him about it as long as he could, he eventually gave in.

“Oh. Then what are you thinking about? You look…unusually contemplative.”

Dean smiled. “Nah, I was just thinking that I might need to get a refill on my suppressants when we get back.”

“Huh. I didn’t know you were on suppressants.”

“Sam, you’ve been living with me for over two months. Have I gone into heat _at all_ during that time?”

“Hey, most omegas go _three_ to _four_ months between heats.”

“Fine. Fair enough. Yeah, I’m on suppressants.”

“I guess you need to be, huh? For work? Well anyways, speaking of how long I’ve been living with you…I’m going back to Stanford in two weeks, just so you know.”

“Oh. Right,” Dean said. He’d almost forgotten Sam wasn’t living with him permanently.

“But hopefully I’ll be back next summer—for good. If I get into Chicago for law.”

“You will. You’re a genius, Sammy—you know you’ll get in wherever you wanna go.”

“Thanks,” Sam laughed, “But we’ll see.”

“What’re you and Jess gonna do?”

“ _Actually…_ that’s another thing I needed to tell you. We’ve talked about it, and we’ve decided we want to mate.”

“Hey!” Dean grinned, hitting Sam’s arm. “Congrats, Sammy! She’s really something—and way out of your league, by the way.”

“I know she is,” Sam laughed, blushing, “We’re going to wait until next year…since hopefully we’ll be going to the same law school.”

“That’s so awesome, dude. Did you tell Mom and Dad?”

“No. I kinda wanted you to be the first to know.”

“Aw, I’m touched. Hey, we should go out tonight and celebrate.”

“It’s Sunday night, dude. We both work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, so? You’re young; you’ll bounce back. As for me, it won’t be my first time going to work hungover. I’ll be fine.”

“Uh,” Sam laughed shaking his head. “Fine. Okay, let’s go out tonight.”

“’Atta boy, Sammy! It’ll be fun, I swear.”

 

 

Dean didn’t make it to the doctor’s for the next week. He fell back into the rhythm of the OPA, trying to catch up and avoiding questions about the nasty shiner he was sporting, and it was pushed to the back of his mind.

But the following Friday afternoon he found himself in the waiting room of the Omega Clinic, waiting for the nurse to call his name. He was flipping through the magazines they had lying around and was getting annoyed with the selection. Omega Health, Home and Garden, Cooking, some other weird girly mags. Nothing good.

He wrinkled his nose in distaste, instead pulling out his phone.

When the nurse finally called his name, he hopped up eagerly and followed her. She stopped to weigh and measure him before taking him to one of the rooms.

He was dismayed to see that he’d actually gained a few pounds—probably a result of his mom’s pies. She’d sent three home with him and Sam and they lasted all of four days.

The nurse went through the other usual tests—blood pressure, temperature, etc.—and Dean knew she wouldn’t find anything weird. He was perfectly healthy.

She then led him to a barren, white-walled office and left him alone. Dean hauled himself up onto the table with a sigh. He hated doctor’s appointments, though he admitted they weren’t as bad as the dentist. But hopefully, this would be a quick visit.

Doctor Barnes surprised him by coming in fairly quickly. She stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, and tried to give Dean a stern look. “You are _long_ overdue for an appointment, young man.”

Dean just grinned at her, turning up the charm. “Hey, Pamela. You look great. How’re the kids?”

“Oh no you don’t,” Pamela scolded with a laugh, “Don’t you try sweet talking your way out of this one.”

“Yeah…Sorry. I’ve been busy with work.”

“Aren’t you always?” Pamela asked. She logged into the computer and Dean could see her pulling up his files. “How’s Bobby?”

“You know, grumpy as ever.”

Pamela laughed and rolled her chair closer to Dean. “Of course. In all seriousness, Dean, regular appointments are important. The suppressants you’re on are strong, and that makes them risky. I’ve told you this.”

“I know, I know,” Dean cringed, “It’s not like I do it on purpose. I just forget.”

“Well stop forgetting. What’s bothering you today? Since I know you wouldn’t come in just for a check up.”

“I think I need my suppressants to be stronger.”

Pamela’s eyebrows shot up. “ _Stronger_? There _is no_ stronger, Dean. You’re already on the strongest we have. They’re not working?”

“They’re still working, for the most part, but they’ve been kinda weird.”

“How so?”

“Well…my hormones have been all over the place and I’ve been weirdly emotional in that…uh, I’ve been connecting with a person that the suppressants are supposed to keep me from connecting with…”

“An alpha?”

“Yeah.”

Pamela threw her head back, letting out a loud laugh. “Dean, sweetheart…suppressants suppress _physical_ reactions, not emotional ones. They don’t, say, keep you from falling in love.”

Dean gaped at her. “I am _not…_! It’s not…I’m not, and I’ve been having physical reactions, too!”

“Really?” Pamela asked, frowning now. “Like what?”

“Well…about two months ago I had this, um, _dream_ about an alpha I know,” Dean explained, feeling his face heat up. “And I woke up and, um, there was slick everywhere and then I actually kind of started reacting when I saw him later that day…fortunately not enough that he could smell it in the air, but still.”

“Hmm. Did it happen just that once?”

“No. It’s happened a couple times since then.” Dean really hoped she didn’t ask him to explain the dream. Having wet dreams about his best friend mating with him wasn’t something he was ready to admit out loud.

There was another thing he’d rather not mention—how aroused he’d gotten during that case at Devil to Pay. When Cas had pinned him against the wall and…he shook his head. He really didn’t need to be thinking about that right now.

“Always the same alpha?”

Dean’s blush deepened. “Yeah. Always the same dream.”

“Do you see this alpha often?”

“Every day.”

“Then it could be him,” Pamela said, leaning back in her seat to study Dean thoughtfully. “Some alphas just emit stronger pheromones than others. The other physical effects you’ve been experiencing—do they all involve this same alpha?”

“Yes,” Dean said, a little more relaxed now that he knew it might just be Castiel’s pheromones. None of this “emotion” bullshit.

“There’s another explanation, but I don’t think you’re going to like it much,” Pamela said, smirking at Dean.

“And what’s that?”

“Well sometimes, if an omega finds their True mate their suppressants stop—“

“Woah, woah, woah. Hang on there a second, sweetheart. Cas is _not_ my true mate.”

“How do you know?” Pamela asked, tilting her head to one side. She was still smirking. “You’re on suppressants. You would have no idea.”

“Well, wouldn’t he know? Wouldn’t he have said something by now?”

“He wouldn’t know either, I’m afraid. When an omega’s on suppressants—especially if they’re as strong as yours are—their scent is dampened. The specific pheromones that would reveal you as his true mate are much weaker.”

Dean groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Are you kidding me.”

“You know, as much as you pretend that this is the end of the world, I can tell you’re secretly pleased.”

“You can tell no such thing!”

Pamela laughed. “As I said, though, that’s only one possible explanation. If you two really aren’t true mates, these reactions you’re having could be worrisome.”

“What about the…’strong pheromone’ thing you said earlier? What if it’s just that?”

“I could see his pheromones affecting you once, but your body should have adjusted after that. I’d like to run some tests—blood panels, maybe an ultrasound—just to make sure everything’s working properly and this little malfunction isn’t an indication of something more serious.”

“Oh. Okay.”

So much for making it out in time to be able to go back to work for a few hours.

Over the next two hours, Dean was made to feel like a lab experiment. He had blood drawn, had to have a friggin’ _ultrasound,_ and even had to go through something called a hystero… _something_ that really just turned out to be a bunch of x-rays. He was poked at and prodded at in a dozen ways; Dr. Barnes was definitely thorough in the tests she’d ordered.

The worst thing about it all, though, was the fact that it gave him time to think. And he _hated_ being alone with his thoughts. He switched back and forth between worrying about the tests and worrying about this whole “true mates” thing.

About Cas…if it was true, Dean figured he definitely could’ve gotten stuck with a worse alpha than Cas. Well, that was an understatement—he couldn’t have gotten stuck with a _better_ alpha. He wasn’t as upset as he thought he would be about having his choice taken away. Hell, if he ever had decided to mate…well, he would’ve chosen Cas. He couldn’t deny that to himself any more.

Dean could actually get used to the idea of him and Cas being true mates, and that terrified the shit out of him. As much as he really wished he could keep denying it, he could easily see himself spending the rest of his life with Castiel. He could see himself _mating with_ Castiel. He could even see himself having a kid with Castiel someday. Maybe. Who knows.

That is, if he lived that long. Because apparently he was dying or something.

When he first starting taking the suppressants, he had to read and sign some form saying he’d been made aware of the long list of possible symptoms and risks that went with the harmless-looking little pills. He never thought any of them would actually happen. Christ, he could be dying. Or have cancer. Or have a million other complications that he read about and didn’t take seriously.

Two hours after the testing began, Dean was back in the original office, waiting for Pamela to come back in with the results.

When she did, slipping into the room without a word, Dean knew it was true. He was dying. He only had a few hours left to live. He had to say goodbye to everyone he loves—maybe write up a will and give all his shit to Sammy—

“So,” Pamela began, more serious than Dean had ever seen her.

“Bad news?”

“Well…there’s good news _and_ bad news. The good news is that you’re not dying.”

“Great,” Dean said dryly, secretly relieved, “And the bad news?”

“You need off your suppressants _immediately_.”

“ _Off them_? Like, to a weaker kind? Or stop taking them completely?”

“Off them completely. I know what you’re going to say—you need them at your job, but it’s _my_ job to tell you that your health takes priority. As it is, the suppressants _have_ already done some damage.”

“What kind of damage?” Dean asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer. His mind immediately jumped to the worst possible scenarios, the one’s he’d been imagining up for the past two hours—but Pamela had said he wasn’t dying, right? And while she seemed hesitant to tell him, it wasn’t the ‘it was nice knowing you’ kind of hesitant, more the ‘you’re not going to be happy’ kind of hesitant. “Whatever it is, Pamela, I can take it. Just tell me.”

Dr. Barnes sighed. “It was…some internal tissue damage. Dean, I’m afraid the likelihood that you’ll ever be able to conceive is very, _very_ slim to none.”

“Conceive,” Dean repeated calmly, “So…you’re saying I can never have kids?”

“Most likely, no,” Pamela said, watching the omega’s reaction closely. “If you get off the suppressants _immediately,_ there’s a possibility that—over time—the tissue might be able to repair itself, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

Dean shook his head and took a deep breath. “No, uh. That’s…that’s fine. I mean, I wasn’t planning on ever havin’ kids anyways. It’s not really…It’s not really a big deal. That’s the only problem?”

Pamela nodded. “Yes. Are you okay, honey?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dean lied, faking a smile. It didn’t feel very convincing to him, but Pamela seemed appeased.

“I’m so sorry, Dean. There’s no way we could’ve seen this coming—it’s been known to happen, even with omegas on lighter forms of suppressants.”

“No, I know. I’ll stop taking the suppressants.”

“Good. If you want to hear it, I do think there’s more good news.”

Dean took a deep breath. “Yeah? ‘Cause I’m gonna be honest, I could really use some right now.”

“Well…” Pamela said, sitting beside Dean on the table, “This tissue damage isn’t what caused the suppressants to malfunction. We did every test in the book, and there’s nothing else physically wrong with you. My true mate theory is looking more and more likely.”

That’s what did it. Dean snapped. He stood up, not looking at Pamela, and started pacing, running a hand through his hair. “That’s supposed to be _good news?_ ” he demanded, trying really, really hard not to shout at the startled doctor. “What the hell am I supposed to say to him, Pamela? ‘Hey, guess what! I’m your mate. By the way, we can _never have kids_! Isn’t this exciting news?’”

Pamela cringed. “I can see now how that might’ve been the wrong thing to say. Look, Dean, if he really is your true mate, he won’t care. He’ll just be happy that you’re healthy.”

Dean took a breath. It wasn’t fair for him to snap at Pamela, he knew that. None of this was her fault—it was all his. He was the one that had to be on the strong suppressants. He was the one that was too careless to come in for regular checkups. All of this was on his shoulders.

“You’re right; I’m sorry. Really, I’m fine now.”

“Are you sure? Let me give you this—we have a counselor here, for situations like this. This is his card.”

“Great,” Dean said, taking it and planning on throwing it away as soon as he got outside. Pamela hugged him, telling him to come in right away if there were any other problems, and warned him that going off the suppressants meant he would go into heat.

The situation just kept getting better and better.

He went straight home—after a brief stop at the closest liquor store—and ran into Sam in the hallway.

“Oh, hey Dean,” Sam said. “I left a note on the counter, but uh, I’m spending the night at Jessica’s.”

Sam was grinning, waiting for Dean’s response. Dean mustered as much energy as he could to respond, not wanting to bother Sam with his shit problems. He knew Sam would just insist on staying home if Dean told him.

“No kidding! Have fun. Be safe. Use protection. No biting without consent, you hear me? Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean I won’t go all OPA on your ass if I need to.”

Sam shook his head, huffing a laugh. He glanced down at the whiskey bottles Dean was carrying and snorted. “Uh…planning on throwing a rager or something?”

“Shut up, bitch. I’m just restocking.”

“Okay,” Sam said, walking past Dean. He paused before he got very far. “Hey, you okay? You seem a little…I don’t know, _off._ ”

Dean cringed, then adopted an innocent expression and turned back to face Sam. “Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I’m pretty tired…but I’m good. Now go on. Don’t make Jess wait ‘cause of me.”

As soon as he was inside, he opened the first bottle, sat on his kitchen floor, and started drinking.

 

.

“Hey, Cas! Are you headin’ home?” Benny asked, catching Castiel before he got on the elevator. Castiel was surprised to see him; he thought he was the last one in the office.

“I was about to, yes.”

“Could you do me a _huge_ favor, brother?” Benny asked, handing Castiel a folder, “Can you take a quick detour and drop this off at Dean’s? I need him to look over it sometime before Monday, but I forgot to give it to him before he left.”

Castiel tilted his head to one side. “Did he leave early today?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were in that meeting all day. Yeah, he had a doctor’s appointment,” Benny shrugged.

“Ah. Of course I can bring it to him,” Cas said. As if he would ever turn down a chance to see Dean.

“Thanks, man. If he’s not home, just slide it under the door.”

Castiel nodded. “Are you staying much longer?”

“Unfortunately. I’ve had this stack of paperwork on my desk for a _month_ , and I figured it’s about time to get it done, and tryin’ to do it at home with Andrea always ends up…well, let’s just say I get distracted easily, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh. _Oh._ Right, yes, I…I understand. Um. Have a nice weekend, if I don’t see you. Tell Andrea I said hello.”

“Will do. Thanks again, Cas.”

 

Twenty minutes later, Castiel was knocking on Dean’s apartment door. When he heard muffled grumbling and cursing coming from the other side of it, he smiled and waited for Dean to get up from whatever he’d been doing and answer it.

The door flew open, revealing a disheveled, confused Dean. His hair was a mess—messier, even, than Castiel’s. He was only wearing a light t-shirt, boxers, and…Castiel frowned. One sock.

“Um…hello, Dean.”

“Cas!” Dean grinned, leaning heavily against the door frame. The smile disappeared, replaced by a pout. “You’re not the pizza man.”

Castiel tilted his head to one side. “You ordered pizza? At ten o’clock at night?”

“You know,” Dean frowned, “I can’t remember if I actually ordered it or not. I know I _thought about_ ordering it like a million times, but I dunno if I ever did it.”

“Are you drunk?”

“ _Noo,_ ” Dean said, shushing the alpha with a finger to his lips, then dropped his hand to tug on Castiel’s tie. “You wanna come in and have a drink with me?” the omega asked, a bright smile lighting up his face.

Castiel frowned, but let Dean pull him into the apartment. He looked around for Sam, unsurprised when he didn’t find the younger Winchester. “Dean…why are you drinking alone on a Friday night?”

“I’m not drinking alone,” Dean winked. “I’m drinking with you.”

With that, Dean sought out his nearly-empty bottle of whiskey and handed it to Cas. Castiel took it, if only to keep it away from Dean.

“Yes, but you were alone before I got here.”

“I know I was,” Dean said, suddenly much sadder than the situation warranted. He put a heavy hand on Castiel’s shoulder, and Cas wasn’t sure if it was a friendly touch or if Dean needed the contact to keep from falling. “ _You,_ Cas, are _awesome,_ you hear me? Thank you.”

“I’m not sure I understand why you’re thanking me, but I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight, Dean.”

“No!” Dean whined, stepping into Castiel’s space to get the bottle back when the alpha tried holding it out of his reach. “Cas, I _need_ to drink tonight. You don’t get it!”

“Then please explain,” Cas said, narrowing his eyes, “Dean, what’s wrong?”

“ _Life,_ ” Dean growled, trying again for the bottle. “ _Life_ is wrong. And fucked up. And unfair.”

When Cas still refused to give him the whiskey bottle, Dean took a few steps backward and smirked. He almost lost his balance, which kinda detracted from his victory, but he didn’t really mind. “Fine. You can have that bottle, Cas, ‘cause I bought _two._ ”

Castiel sighed. “Dean—“

They both jumped when there was a knock on the door.

“Oh, now I remember,” Dean said thoughtfully, staring at the door. “I totally _did_ order pizza.”

Cas groaned, taking a swig of the whiskey and wincing. Hopefully the alcohol would give him patience—he could already tell it was going to be a long night.

“You—sit down or something; you’re going to hurt yourself. I’ll pay for the pizza.”

The delivery guy gave Cas a look when he saw the large bottle of liquor in his hand. Cas ignored at him, paying and then practically slamming the door in the poor kid’s face. He’d probably feel bad about it later.

It’s not that Castiel didn’t find drunk Dean amusing. He did. Normally, Dean was a downright _adorable_ drunk. But an _upset_ drunk Dean was a total pain in the ass, and Castiel could tell he was dealing with the latter.

When he closed the door, pizza in hand, he saw that Dean had taken his order literally and sat down in the middle of his kitchen. Castiel rolled his eyes and handed the pizza box to the omega, who was now sitting cross-legged on the cold tile floor. While Dean was preoccupied, Cas took both whiskey bottles and stashed them in the cupboard above Dean’s fridge.

He poured a glass of water and handed it to Dean, who frowned down at the cup’s contents before taking a cautious sip. He then looked up at Castiel, bottom lip sticking out in an exaggerated pout. “ _Cas_ …”

“No. You’ve had enough.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun. Why’re you here, anyways?”

“Benny asked me to bring you a case file. I’m finding myself glad he did,” Cas said, slipping out of his coat and shoes.

“’Cause you love my company so much?”

“No, because something is clearly wrong and even though you may not wish to talk about it, I’d like to be here for you.”

Dean avoided the alpha’s gaze as Cas sat on the ground across from him. Castiel stretched out his legs, leaning back against the kitchen cabinets.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Dean grumbled as he occupied himself with opening the pizza box. “Not to you. You want a piece or what?”

“Well I _did_ pay for it,” Castiel said, taking a slice. After a minute of eating in silence, he frowned. “Not to _me_ specifically? Is it me you’re upset with?”

“No! ‘Course not, don’t be stupid,” Dean said around a mouthful of pizza. “It just…it involves you, and trust me when I say you’ll be happier not knowing. ‘Bout any of it.”

“But if it involves me…”

“Can you drop it, Cas?” Dean snapped. “I said I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Cas decided it was best to leave it be for the moment. By this point, he knew Dean well enough to know that whatever it was would come out eventually.

They ate in silence for a little while, until Dean hummed. “I am _so_ glad I ordered this pizza after all. Good call, drunk me. Too bad I’m full.”

“You only had four pieces,” Cas observed with a small smile.

“Only? That’s a lot! I don’t wanna get fat!”

“Then please tell me why you ordered two extra-large pizzas.”

Dean almost smiled. _Almost._ “I was hungry at the time,” he shrugged.

“And drunk.”

“I’m still drunk.”

“You seem to be doing a little better, though.”

“Yeah. Thanks so much for that,” Dean said sarcastically, “Where’d you put my whiskey? I’m not drunk enough to be talking to you right now.”

Cas frowned. “I hid it.”

“You know this is _my_ apartment, right? It’s not gonna take me long to find it.”

Cas shook his head and stood up, putting the uneaten pizza in the fridge. “I’m not entirely convinced you can _stand_ without help, Dean, let alone conduct an organized search. Where’s Sam?”

“Spending the night at Jess’s’s…” Dean slurred, frowning when Jessica’s name didn’t come out right.

“Really? That’s a big step.”

“I know,” Dean grumbled, suddenly bitter again. “My kid brother’s gonna be mated before I am.”

Interesting. That couldn’t be what had Dean so upset, could it? It seemed unlikely. He could see that making Dean a little annoyed, but not so upset that he’d try to drink himself to oblivion in a dark, empty apartment on a Friday night. But this was a piece of it, maybe. “That’s by your own choice, is it not?”

Dean just shrugged.

Satisfied that everything was cleaned up, Castiel sat back down, surprised when Dean slid across the floor to sit next to him.

“I wanted to lean against something,” Dean explained, patting the cabinet behind him in response to Castiel’s questioning look. That didn’t explain why Dean was pressed against him shoulder to thigh, or a why as time went on Dean leaned more and more against him and less against the wall behind him, but he wasn’t about to complain. Dean was always touchy-feely when he drank.

“Just tell me something,” Cas eventually said, pulling Dean from wherever his thoughts had taken him. “Does it involve Alastair?”

“No.”

“John?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Castiel officially had no idea what could be wrong.

“I went to the doctor today,” Dean said, resting his head on Castiel’s shoulder.

“Benny told me,” Castiel said, annoyed that Dean was changing the subject again.

Unless he wasn’t. Unless whatever happened at that appointment was what had Dean tying to drink himself into oblivion, because he’d been perfectly cheerful that morning, hadn’t he?

Cas said up quickly. Dean scrambled to regain his balance after the sudden loss of his headrest and glared at Castiel.

“Cas! What the hell?”

“Are you okay, Dean?” Cas asked the omega, his eyes wide.

Dean cringed and looked away, which was an answer in and of itself.

Castiel’s heart sank; he forgot how to breathe. It was like his entire world was crashing down around him. He’d only just met this breathtaking, unbelievable omega; he couldn’t have him taken away so soon.

Dean had to be okay. Castiel didn’t know what he would do if he wasn’t.

“No. I’m not. It’s bad, Cas.”

“What…” Cas paused, trying to remember how to speak. He cleared his throat and looked away. “What is it?”

Dean shrugged, tangling a hand through his hair. He was going for nonchalant, Cas knew, but he came off looking more like a lost child. “Well, uh…the doctor told me I can never have kids.”

Castiel blinked at Dean. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, frowning and cocking his head to one side to study Dean. “You can’t have kids,” he repeated slowly. “Is that it?”

Dean made a face, frowning and scrunching up his nose. He was going to say something—probably yell at Cas for being insensitive (which he was. That definitely did _not_ come out the way he’d intended it)—but then all of the air was knocked of his lungs by the alpha, who yanked him into a crushing hug. Dean tried to squirm out of his grip but couldn’t manage more than an annoyed wiggle.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Dean, I’m so sorry…but _Jesus_ , Dean!” Cas growled into the omega’s neck. “You made it sound like you were _dying_ or something! Don’t do that to me!”

“Can’t breathe,” Dean managed.

“Oh. My apologies,” Castiel said, loosening his grip just slightly.

Dean stopped squirming. “So you’re not upset?”

“Why the hell would I be upset? I mean, it’s terrible and I’m _very_ sorry you have to go through this, but next time _please_ do not lead with ‘It’s bad.’”

Dean wiggled again, freeing his arms so he could return the hug. He buried his face in Castiel’s neck and took a deep breath, inhaling his best friend’s familiar, comforting scent. He didn’t even care anymore how needy it probably made him seem.

Castiel, for his part, was just trying to remind himself that Dean had just gotten bad news and needed comfort— _familial_ comfort. He couldn’t let himself get carried away with questions about what this meant, because upset omegas—especially omegas as upset as Dean seemed to be—responded best to physical comfort. Not even Dean’s suppressants could repress that deeply ingrained trait.  

Cas rubbed slow, soothing circles into Dean’s back, feeling the omega’s grip around his neck tighten. Dean’s fingers hesitantly made their way into the short, messy hair at the back of Castiel’s head

“It’s okay, Dean,” Cas said, turning his head so he was breathing the words into Dean’s ear. Without stopping to think about what he was doing, he planted a light kiss on Dean’s temple. Dean tensed for just a second in response, but then melted into Castiel’s arms with a soft whine. “You’re going to be just fine.”

Dean sniffed loudly, and Castiel belatedly realized the omega might be crying. He’d seen Dean upset before, several times, and close to tears—but never had the first tear actually fallen. Even when Dean was vulnerable, he never let himself go over that final edge.

“Dean, I don’t understand,” Cas finally said, pulling away and making the omega look at him. He was wrong—Dean hadn’t been crying. Not yet. Those beautiful green eyes were definitely watery, though. Cas wanted nothing more than to shower the omega with love and affection, to hold him and kiss him until he could see that glorious smile again. “You’ve told me a dozen times that you don’t want children.”

“Well yeah, but now I couldn’t have ‘em even if I wanted to! It’s different being told you _can’t!_ ”

“I understand. But you could still have children,” Cas said, taking Dean’s hand in his, “There’s always adoption. I know it’s not the same, but you’re not entirely without options. I realize how hard this must be, Dean, but it could’ve been something worse—“

Dean yanked his hand free, glaring at Cas. “Really? Could it? ‘Cause from where I’m standing, it’s looking pretty fucking awful! You get that this isn’t just about kids, right? Cas, this changes my _whole life!_ I’m never gonna be able to find a mate like this—who the hell would want an omega that can’t even have kids?! What the fuck is even the point of that?!”

The first tear finally fell. Castiel watched it make its way down Dean’s freckled cheek and felt the urge to reach up and wipe it away. So he did, cradling the omega’s cheek in his hand. “The _point,_ Dean, would be to mate with a wonderful, beautiful, and brilliant omega. Whomever you choose to mate, you certainly don’t owe him this—or anything. Just by being with him, you’d be making him the luckiest alpha in the world.”

Dean scoffed, wiping his eyes. He was trying _really_ hard to compose himself, Castiel could see, but more tears were falling now that the first had paved their way, and Dean was slowly falling apart.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Cas, I…I’m fucked up okay? And it’s not just this kid thing, either! There’s my whole past with Alastair, and my parents, and the fact that I learned to fight when I was _fourteen,_ and I’m about as far from as a perfect omega as anyone can get—“

“What, pray tell, is a ‘perfect’ omega?”

“Shut up. You know exactly what I mean—omegas are supposed to be good and submissive and soft-spoken and gentle and they’re supposed to smile and say ‘yes, sir’ when an alpha addresses them and they’re _not_ supposed to be loudmouthed or rude or violent. And God, I’ve never wanted to be like those omegas, but it’s just _not fair_! Why do _I_ have to put up with all this shit? Why can’t I just be _happy?!_ I’ve got so much baggage, and I’m used up and broken and—“

“ _Dean,”_ Cas growled, cutting Dean off mid-sentence. The omega’s mouth snapped shut and his eyes widened, having never heard the alpha full-out _growl_ like that before. “I’ve heard enough. Come here.”

Dean obeyed, hesitantly scooting closer to Cas because at some point during his rant he started backing away. As soon as he was close enough, Castiel pulled Dean into another hug.

“Stop this,” he said, holding Dean tight against him. “That omega you described doesn’t exist, and if they did, no alpha would want them. For me, at least, there’s no question. I would choose you any day. As you are.”

“But—“

“No. It’s my turn. _You’re_ perfect, Dean, and when you decide to mate, your alpha will see that. He’ll feel lucky just to have you—and that includes _all_ of you. The good as well as the bad.”

“You’re so friggin’ sappy,” Dean grumbled, sounding like himself for the first time since Castiel had seen him that morning.

“If I’m sappy, it’s because you need to hear it. So please listen to me when I tell you: there’s not an alpha on this planet that could resist falling in love with you. Not if he has any sense at all.”

Dean went still.

Castiel had done it. He’d revealed too much about his own feelings—this could either end well or very, very _horribly._ At this point, he didn’t even care. If it made Dean feel even slightly better about himself, it would be worth it.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say, Dean?”

Dean nodded, and Castiel could feel the warm puff of the omega’s breath against his neck when Dean took a deep breath. “You’re saying you…have sense.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, “That’s what I was getting at. We don’t have to talk about it now…or ever. I wanted you to know that I’m not saying all of this just to make you feel better. I meant everything, Dean. I don’t know why all of this is happening to you. I don’t understand it, because you deserve the world. You’re so…you’re so _bright_ and _good_ , and I would sell my soul if it would make everything better for you.”

“I don’t deserve you,” Dean sighed, snuggling closer to Castiel.

“Were you not listening to anything I just said?”

“It’s gonna take me a while to believe it.”

Castiel just hummed in response, combing through Dean’s hair until the omega’s breathing evened out and he slumped against Castiel’s chest, fast asleep.

He’d meant to do something about it, he really did. He considered waking Dean up, or maybe he should carry Dean to his bedroom…it was late and he should be getting home, anyways. He just couldn’t bring himself to move. Dean looked so peaceful, and he kept making these cute almost-but-not-quite-a-snore noises, and Castiel didn’t want this to end, because in the morning, when Dean sobered up and realized what Castiel had meant, things would be different.

It wasn’t long before he started to feel tired as well, and he rested his head on top of Dean’s and let his eyes flutter shut for just a moment.

 

.

Pounding. Endless, chaotic pounding. Pain, too. It was like someone detached his skull, played a game of basketball with it, and reattached it.

Dean groaned and stretched, his arm hitting a wall. He froze. His bed wasn’t pressed against a wall. It was in the middle of the room.

With that realization came several others—he was laying on someone. Well, not _on._ He was sort of half-draped across the person’s chest. And it wasn’t _someone._ It was Cas. And they were still laying on the kitchen floor.

He opened his eyes, lifting himself up on his elbows to look down at Cas. The alpha was still asleep, one arm thrown over his face and the other wrapped around Dean’s waist.

 Dean took a deep breath, and with it came the scent of pure _Castiel_.

Dean made a face. The taste in his mouth was downright _nasty_ —cheap whiskey made even worse by a long night of breathing through his mouth.

He remembered the previous night. Rather, most of it. Or bits of it. He wasn’t sure how much he’d missed. He remembered all of the important parts, though.

There was one other thing. Just a little problem. He _really_ had to go to the bathroom, but Cas had a vice-like grip on his waist.

He tried moving Castiel’s arm, but it just made Cas stir and pull Dean closer. Dean started patting Castiel’s cheek. “Hey. Cas. Wake up. _Cas!_ ”

Cas flailed, half-sitting up and looking around with wide eyes. “I’m awake! What…” he squinted at Dean, then around at the kitchen. With a groan, he laid back down and closed his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Dunno, but I had to pee and you weren’t letting go. Sorry.”

Cas waved his hand.

“Not a morning person, huh?” Dean chuckled.

“Didn’t you have to go to the bathroom?”

 

When Dean got back, he found Cas still sprawled out on the kitchen floor in the same position he’d been in when Dean left. He nudged the alpha with his foot.

“Why are you doing that?” Cas groaned.

“Come on, grumpy. Get up. It’s four in the morning, and damned if I’m falling back asleep on the floor.”

“But why do _I_ have to get up?”

“’Cause I’d feel bad leaving you here!”

“I assure you, I’m content staying where I am.”

“Really? You’d rather sleep here than in a comfy, warm bed with yours truly?”

Castiel peeked out from under his arm. “I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Cas,” Dean groaned, “Your back’s gonna be all messed up if you try sleeping here all night. Now come sleep with me.”

Dean cringed. He definitely could have phrased that better.

He turned on his heel, heading to his room and not caring whether Castiel followed or not.

Slipping underneath the blankets, Dean decided he’d get a good night’s sleep whether Cas decided to join or not. He curled up on his side, facing away the door, and was therefore surprised when the bed suddenly dipped behind him.

He didn’t turn to look, but he did scoot back towards Cas once the alpha was all settled. Neither of them commented on it, nor did they say anything when Cas reached around and pulled Dean back against him. Dean just sank into Castiel’s warmth, letting his eyes fall shut.

He should be freaking out. He and Cas were _spooning._

Before Pamela had given him the news, he had finally come around to the idea of mating. More specifically, of mating with _Cas._ He still wouldn’t even _consider_ it with anyone else. But now things were different. Sure, Cas was being supportive _now,_ but in ten years? Twenty? He would resent Dean, eventually. He would regret not mating with someone that could have his kids.

“Whatever you’re thinking,” Cas said, startling Dean, “It’s not true. Now go to sleep.”

 

When Dean woke up a second time, he was alone. The sheets still smelled like Cas, so he knew he hadn’t dreamt it all.

There was another smell, too. It was…bacon? Why did he smell bacon?

He decided to investigate, throwing on a pair of sweatpants before leaving his room.

He found Cas in the kitchen, standing over the stove. Cas looked up when he came in and smiled at him. “Good morning. How do you feel?”

Dean went for the obvious answer. “My head is killing me. I feel like Death.”

“I figured you would,” Cas said, pointing to the cup of water and advil sitting on the counter, “But that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Dean sighed. “I feel better. Honestly. You helped a lot last night, so uh…thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Castiel said, watching Dean closely. “I, um, I made French toast. And bacon. To make up for being so grumpy earlier this morning.”

Dean laughed and padded into the kitchen. “Smells good.”

Nodding, Cas returned to his cooking. “So…how much do you remember from last night?”

“All of it,” Dean said quietly. He wandered over to Castiel and leaned against the counter, watching Cas work.

“So you remember what I said about…”

“Having sense? Yeah, I remember." Dean sighed. "Cas, I—“

Castiel kissed him. It was quick and chaste, but it was effective in getting Dean to shut up.

When Dean didn’t respond, Cas leaned back in and kissed Dean again, more insistent this time. It took Dean a while to kiss back, but when he did, he did it enthusiastically. He sighed against the alpha’s lips and reached up to tangle a hand in Castiel’s messy hair.

Cas, still stunned that Dean— _the_ Dean, _his_ Dean—was actually responding, wrapped an arm around the omega’s waist and pulled him closer. The kiss turned desperate and needy, with Castiel biting at Dean’s bottom lip and Dean’s nails slicing almost painfully into the back of Castiel’s head.

Cas dipped his head to plant kisses along Dean’s jaw, and that’s when Dean pushed away. He was panting slightly, and he stared at Cas with wide eyes.

“Cas, I…I don’t. I’ve gotta. I should go,” Dean said, barely remembering to grab his keys as he took his flight.

“Dean, wait! This is—“

The door slammed.

“—your apartment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is nigh, all! (As much as I hate to say it). I'm thinking three to five more chapters. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I LOVE reading your comments! And I love how closely you're all engaging with the text :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Are they or aren't they?" -Honestly, I don't even know anymore.

Dean was an idiot. He was a stupid, rash, reckless, unthinking idiot. Why'd he run away? Well, that was a good question. He had no idea. He really, honestly had no clue.

He ran because that's just what he does.

He'd been totally on board with the situation. Cas was a _friggin' great_ kisser. On top of that he was smart, nice, hot, funny, caring, and he treated Dean way better than he deserved to be treated. Honestly, Dean was running out of reasons why he shouldn't be with Cas. No, strike that. He wasn't "running out," he was already out. He had no more excuses. Maybe that's why he ran.

It had been so long. Ten years-- ten years of telling himself that he couldn't ever mate because no one would ever be good enough. Then along came Cas. Dean wasn't stupid- _obviously,_ Cas was good enough. He just kept making excuses because Cas was just _too good_ for him. _He_ wasn't good enough for _Cas._

So there was that. Cas, who's so perfect it's intimidating, was kissing him, and when you combine that with the fact that kissing against an alpha went against every single rule Dean had carefully laid for himself. Plus, he had a _really_ hard day. One that ended with him _completely humiliating_ himself in front of Cas- who, again, was such a perfect human being that he didn't even mind taking care of a drunk, crying, puking (oh yeah. Dean vaguely remembered running to the bathroom to throw up at some point) omega.

 _No shit_ Dean ran.

But once he had time to think clearly, he realized how stupid a move that was. It was probably going on his list of "Top Ten Things Dean Winchester Regrets," which is really saying something 'cause it was beating out some steep competition.

Cas probably hated Dean. Or thought Dean hated Cas. His little runaway bride stunt ruined any chance there was of them ever actually getting together-- unless they really were true mates. And there was a whole other problem.

Five minutes after he left, Dean stormed back into his apartment, planning on telling Cas exactly how he felt once and for all. Cas, of course (because Dean's life sucked), was already gone.

About ten minutes later, Sam and Jess walked in to find Dean moping, sitting at the kitchen table with a massive pizza box.

 

.

.

"Hey, baby bro," Gabe said, dropping into the seat across from Castiel. He bounced a little on the plastic booth seat and wiggled to get comfortable all while Castiel watched him, unamused. "Never been here before," Gabe observed, looking around at the diner they were meeting in.

"Nor have I. Someone recommended it to me, although I don't recall who."

"Is Anna coming?"

"No. Apparently she and Alek are spending the weekend in Northern Wisconsin. They left this morning."

" _What_?! She's getting out of _another_ one of mom's parties?!"

" _Fuck,_ " Cas swore in a rare moment of weakness. In his defense, he had a rough morning and this was just the sour icing on the rotting cake. With a groan, he buried his face in his hands. "I completely forgot about that. That's tomorrow already?"

"Yep. Six o'clock. Fortunately this one's just family."

"Is Lucifer going?"

"Yep. So are Raphael and Uriel. Oh, wait! It's not just family! Guess what!"

"What?" Cas asked reluctantly.

"Mom says bring a date or she'll bring one for you."

"Again?" Cas groaned. Naomi Novak had set Castiel up with blind dates for the last three parties. The first time, she'd pretended it was coincidence ("you're both single and have a lot in common! Dance together!"), but she'd taken to laying it all out on the table. "Great. This weekend keeps getting better and better."

Gabe chuckled. "That reminds me: why the emergency phone call?"

"I did something stupid, Gabriel," Cas said, glancing over his shoulder when the bell above the door chimed. A young couple had just walked into the small diner and were standing in the doorway looking for a nice place to sit. Cas and Gabe were tucked into a back corner, as Cas hadn't been in the mood to sit near people.

While Cas was distracted, the waitress came and took Gabriel's order, having already taken Castiel's.

"Are you asking me to help you bury a body? Because you know I'll do it, but we'll have to stop at my place 'cause these are new pants and I don't want to get them dirty."

Gabriel had a superpower, Cas was convinced. It was supernatural how Gabe could always make him smile, no matter how foul his mood.

"While I appreciate the offer, I didn't kill anyone. What I did was worse."

"What did you do?"

"I kissed Dean this morning."

"You _what?!_ " Gabriel shouted, dramatically slamming his fist down in the table. Cas cringed, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was looking at them and sure enough, the entire restaurant was. Gabriel cackled.

"Will you _keep it down_?"

Gabriel laughed, wiping away a fake tear. "I'm just messing with you, brother. But seriously, I don't get what the big deal is. Shame on you, kissing an omega you've been in love with since forever."

"No, Gabriel, it was bad. He ran away. That's not an exaggeration- he _literally_ ran away. We were in _his_ apartment, but he grabbed his keys and ran out the door without even stopping to put on shoes."

Gabriel snorted, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth. "Oh, man," he said. He was trying really, really hard not to laugh at Cas-- it was obvious. His shoulders were shaking with his barely contained laughter. Cas was actually impressed with how long Gabriel managed to keep it in.

"You can laugh," Castiel sighed.

Gabriel let loose, cackling loudly. "I'm sorry, Cassie, but that's so funny. Did you use too much tongue or something? Oh my God. Wait. Okay, I do have a question, though: how come you were in Dean-o's apartment this morning?" Gabriel asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"I slept there," Cas admitted, knowing Gabriel would freak.

"You _what_?! Castiel, you should've led with that!"

"I didn't sleep _with_ him, I... _slept_ with him."

"Did you really think that was going to make sense?"

"It wasn't like that. How you're thinking, I mean."

"Then what was it like? You wanna whine about what happened, you oughta provide some context."

"I wasn't-- fine. Yesterday, I stopped at his apartment on my way home to drop off a case file, and I found him drunk and upset about...something," Cas explained, being as vague as possible. "I decided to stay and watch him--"

"Yeah you did."

"Don't interrupt. And that wasn't a euphemism. Anyways, we ended up talking a lot. About...a lot. Granted, he was very drunk-- and I should have taken that into consideration this morning-- but with some of the things he was saying, I convinced myself that he...that my feelings might be reciprocated."

"Maybe they are. Maybe there was just a misunderstanding. How exactly did it go down this morning?"

"I don't even know. I was making French toast--"

"Oooh, I _love_ your French toast!"

" _I was making French toast_ and Dean came in looking all adorable and mussed-up with his bedhead and--" Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Anyways, he came in and I offered him advil. He was about to say something about last night-- which, incidentally, I may have ended up confessing my love for him last night-- and I don't even know why I did it, but I figured the cards were already on the table and I had nothing to lose. It's not as if I forced him into it, of course. I was gentle, at first, but then he _did_ reciprocate before--"

"He dumped your ass like yesterday's trash?"

Cas nodded, pouting. "I completely ruined everything, Gabriel."

"You just couldn't keep it in your pants," Gabriel sighed, shaking his head and making "tutting" noises.

"I'm being serious, Gabriel! How can I face him after this? He's not going to want to see me, let alone _work_ with me!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Cassie," Gabriel said, finally taking his little brother seriously. "Maybe Dean'll come around, but if he doesn't, there are plenty of other fish in the sea."

Castiel scoffed.

"I know you don't wanna hear it, but you're going to find an attractive someone that _appreciates_ your tall, dark, handsome physique and taciturn, melancholy disposition."

"You are so dramatic," Cas said, rolling his eyes.

"There's no way this Dean guy is _that_ great. I mean...look at those chicks over there. They're attractive. And I'm sure they're just as nice, and these ones are _obviously_ into you."

Cas subtly glanced over his shoulder, the girls in question giggling and turning quickly away when Castiel looked at them. One hit the other's arm and whispered something.

"You're joking, right?" Castiel asked his brother flatly. "They look like they're still in high school."

"Yeah, well that's beside the point. What about... _hot damn. Jesus,_ what about the tall, tanned Adonis that just walked in? There's _no way_ you can convince me your Dean is hotter than this guy. I don't know if he's an omega, but my point is that there are attractive people everywhere, and--"

"It's not just that Dean's _attractive,_ Gabriel. It's _everything,_ " he said, looking over his shoulder at the man Gabriel was describing. He immediately regretted it, cursing and ducking out of sight just as the man glanced their way. Cas slouched as low as he could in the booth without falling off the seat. "I remember who recommended this diner, now," he hissed at his brother.

"What the heck are you doing?" a very bemused Gabriel asked.

"That _is_  Dean!"

 _"_ Holy shit, are you serious? You kissed _that_? Forget everything I just said, Cassie. You do _everything_ you can to get him back, you hear me?"

"That would imply I had him in the first place," Cas said, scooting lower on the seat.

"Uh oh. Don't look now, but I think your masterful attempt at hiding didn't work."

"Why do you-- oh," Cas said, looking up to find Dean looming over him, arms crossed. The omega raised an eyebrow.

"Are you hiding from me?"

"Of course not," Castiel lied, "But if I was, that would be a step up from running away."

Dean cringed. "Okay, I totally deserve that. That was real shitty of me, Cas. I came back like five minutes later to apologize but you were already gone, so..."

Sighing, Castiel shook his head. "You don't have to apologize, Dean. It was my fault. I--"

Gabriel cleared his throat.

"Is that really necessary?" Cas asked him. "Dean, this is Gabriel. Gabriel, this is Dean."

"Hey," Dean grinned, shaking Gabriel's hand. "I've heard _a lot_ about you."

"All good?"

"Sure, let's go with that," Dean laughed, "Sorry, I'm probably making a shitty first impression."

"Don't worry about it. I make shitty first impressions all the time," Gabriel joked. He looked over at Castiel to see his baby brother giving him a stern look. "Oh! Right. I just realized I have to...go over there. The bathroom! I have to go to the bathroom!"

Dean slid into Gabriel's quickly vacated seat. "Well that was subtle."

"Dean, I'm sorry--"

"Don't. Cas, you were nothing but an angel to me all night then I was just an asshole back."

"That's not true. You were vulnerable, and I--"

"What? Took advantage of me?" Dean snorted. "Can I just explain? Please?"

"Of course. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't you. Why I ran, I mean. I just...it's a lot of stuff to process in one day. I didn't even tell you everything that happened yesterday, I mean, and--"

"There's more?"

"It's not really that big, considering. I have to stop taking my suppressants," Dean shrugged. "That's it."

 _Oh, and we're probably true mates, I guess._ We'll find out soon enough.

"But what I was about to say before you, uh... _kissed me_ is that I am seriously so freaking embarrassed about last night."

Cas frowned. "You're embarrassed? Why?"

"Because I was pathetic! First of all, there was the puking--"

"I didn't actually see you throw up, if that helps," Cas laughed, a bright smile lighting up his face. "You wouldn't let me anywhere near the bathroom."

"That does make it a little better, actually...but still! I was drunk and needy and I cried all over your shirt--"

"Well I propose a truce," Cas said, still smiling, "I promise to forget about you getting snot all over my shirt if you forget about me trying to seduce you with French toast."

"There was no _snot!_ " Dean gasped, horrified, hitting Castiel's arm. "I'm a _cute_ crier, thank you very much! And besides...I thought your thing was nice."

Castiel tilted his head to one side, squinting at Dean. Dean had to consciously keep himself from fidgeting under the alpha's gaze.

"The French toast or the seduction?" Cas finally asked.

Dean laughed, no longer looking at Castiel. He was looking down at the table, picking at a spot where the protective laminate cover had begun peeling off. "The French toast."

"Ah." Even if Dean hadn't known how Cas felt about him, it would have been impossible to miss the disappointment in the alpha's tone.

"...But the kiss wasn't half bad, either," Dean said, finally looking up at Castiel. The alpha's surprise was written clearly across his face, conveyed through wide eyes and a dropped jaw. The guy was an open book with his emotions. Dean sometimes- like right now- wished he could be like that. It would definitely make this situation a hell of a lot easier.

"It wasn’t'?"

"I'd say 'not bad' is an understatement."

"You would?"

"Yeah, I mean..." Dean trailed off, dropping his gaze again. He picked at his nails, trying to figure out how he was going to finish that sentence.

The waitress came to his rescue with Castiel and Gabriel's food, and Cas honestly looked like he wanted to bite her head off for her bad timing.

"You're not the guy that was here earlier," she said to Dean.

"Uh, no. He'll be right back."

"Gotcha. Anything for you, then?"

"Yeah. Could I get an order to-go? It's separate from theirs."

"Sure. What'll it be?"

"Three of the basket things-- two cheeseburgers and one of those turkey burger things."

"I take it the turkey burger's for Sam?" Castiel asked once the waitress was gone.

"Well it sure as hell ain't for me. And yeah, he's going back to Stanford tomorrow, so Jess and I have been helping him pack up. They were starting to get all gooey and coupley, so I volunteered to get food."

"How noble of you," Cas smiled.

Gabriel rejoined them, probably having run out of ways to stall, and Dean stood to give him his seat back. He would've left them to eat, but Cas insisted he sit with them until he got his food. Castiel scooted over to make room for Dean to sit.

"I take it this means you kissed and made up?" Gabriel asked. "Hopefully literally?"

"Oh, I hate you," Castiel groaned.

"Yes, yes, Cassie, I know. Now hush-- I'm talking to Dean."

"Cassie?" Dean snickered.

"So, Dean," Gabriel began casually, "Anna told me you really are as hot as Cassie always says, but 'til now I didn't believe her."

"Oh, really? 'Cassie' says I'm hot?" Dean asked, smirking at Cas. Cas just glared back.

"Only every single time we talk," Gabriel said with a wicked grin, winking at Cas. The alpha's face was steadily turning a bright shade of red. "You should hear him go _on and on_ about how perf- _OW!"_  

Castiel may or may not have kicked him. "This is why I didn't want you to meet," he grumbled. "Now you see what I have to deal with, Dean."

"Hey! I'm so not the worst thing you 'have to deal with,' Cassie. Dean, if you'd met our mother-- Speaking of, did Cas tell you we have this family party thing tomorrow? Say! Here's a wacky idea: you don't happen to be free, do you?"

Castiel's eyes widened. "Gabriel. What are you doing?"

Gabriel ignored him. "I just worry about Castiel," he said to Dean with a dramatic sigh.

"Alright, I'll bite. Why do you worry about Cas?"

"Gabriel, please don't-"

"What? I'm just sayin' , Cassie, with all the omegas mom throws at you..."

Dean turned to look at Cas so quickly he was pretty sure he gave himself whiplash. "Omegas? What omegas?"

"Um," Cas stalled, glaring at Gabe. "Whenever my mother hosts events, she uses them to introduce me to what she believes are viable mating candidates for me."

Oh, hell no. Dean may be a little confused about how he felt, but he knew one thing for sure: he did _not_ like the idea of Cas dating other omegas, even if it was against the alpha's will.

"How come this is the first I'm hearing about this?" Dean asked, knowing full well he sounded like a jealous mate. Which he was. Jealous, that is. Not Castiel's mate.

"I don't...It's really more of a nuisance than anything else. I'm never actually interested in any of them."

"Oh. Okay. Why not?" Dean asked, relaxing and scooting infinitesimally closer to Castiel on the bench.

"They're not exactly my type."

"He's right," Gabriel interjected, "His type is feisty, outspoken, and devastatingly attractive. Know any of those lying around anywhere, Dean?"

Cas sighed, no longer even trying to shut Gabriel up. "Naomi is a traditionalist, and the omegas she chooses for me reflect that."

"Is 'traditionalist' fancy talk for being a sexist, old-fashioned prick?"

Cas laughed and nodded.

"Well," Gabe said, "My original point was that we're having a little family get-together tomorrow night, and mom said either Cassie brings a date or she'll find him one."

"I could be your date," Dean suggested, not even realizing he was doing exactly what Gabriel wanted. He just didn't want Cas having any "dates" with anyone but him. "I mean, if you want."

"Dean, I appreciate the offer," Cas began, and Dean felt his heart sink. He knew that tone. There was a 'but' coming. Maybe Cas had reevaluated this whole thing after Dean ran away from him that morning. "But Naomi would _hate_ you. I don't want to put you through that."

"Oh," Dean blinked. That wasn't the answer he'd been expecting.

"Don't misunderstand me; you would hate her as well. But Naomi can be cruel and spiteful if she decides she doesn't like someone, and Michael and Uriel are crude and derogatory, and I just don't want to put you through that."

"Cas, I've worked for the OPA for _ten years._ I promise you that whatever they say, I've heard worse. And I promise not to intentionally piss them off or anything. I can keep shut up for one night--it'll be like a cover or something. I mean, if it's helping you out...after everything you've done for me, I can do this for you."

"So it's settled, then!" Gabriel said, clapping his hands together, "Dean's gonna be Cassie's date!"

Cas was studying Dean curiously, and Dean could practically see the gears turning in the alpha's brain, trying to figure out if Dean's motives were exactly as he said or whether something else was going on.

"Thank you, Dean," Castiel said softly.

It happened just like in the movies (and wasn't that Dean's life- he worked so hard to avoid chick flick moments but it turned out his whole goddamned life _was one)._  It was sudden and overwhelming and it left Dean reeling.

Cas didn't even realize anything was different, but in seconds Dean's entire world flipped upside down because he finally had a name for that twisting, fluttering feeling he got in his gut every time he and Cas spoke. He suddenly knew why it had been so easy to let Cas in, to tell the alpha things he had never been able to tell anyone before. He finally knew why he had this ingrained, unspoken knowledge that Cas was it for him.

It had always been there, but why Dean's brain chose _this moment_ to finally think the word was beyond him. Hell, Cas hadn't even done anything. He was just looking at Dean, like he _always_ did, and all of a sudden Dean's brain was throwing around words like "love."

He was in love with Castiel.

What exactly were the chances Cas would forgive him if he ran away again?

"So, um," he began, clearing his throat. He wasn't even sure what he was going to say, but he didn't know how long they'd been staring at each other without speaking and he didn't like the smug look on Gabriel's face. "Dress code?"

"Oh. Yes," Cas said, looking down at his own outfit.

 _This is the dork you've fallen in love with,_ Dean's stupid brain whispered.

"Suit and tie," the alpha continued, "What you wear for work is acceptable."

"Okay, cool."

The waitress came, dropping off Dean's food, and took the twenty Dean gave her.

"I'll pick you up at five?"

"Sounds good. I'll leave you guys to eat. Gabe, it was nice meeting you."

"Tell Sam I said goodbye and I'll miss seeing him at movie nights," Castiel smiled.

"Will do. See you guys tomorrow, then."

"See ya, kiddo!" Gabe said with a wave. When Dean was gone, Gabe smirked at Cas. "You're welcome."

"I don't understand how you do it," Cas said, shaking his head, "You're a miracle worker."

"Please. I think you're just incompetent. But I _am_ pretty good, aren't I? I mean, it took me all of ten seconds to get the omega you've been pining over for _months_ to full-out _volunteer_ to be your date."

Castiel snorted. "Fake date. I only wish our first 'date' wasn't going to be with mom, Michael, Uriel, and Raphael present."

"Hey! It's a start! By the way, you totally had me fooled with all your 'he'll never love me back' bullshit. That boy is head over heels in love with you."

"Very funny."

"Are you serious? I'm not joking, dummy! When I mentioned other omegas? That was _jealousy,_ Cassie! My little plan wouldn't have worked otherwise. Seriously, I don't get how anyone can stand to be around you two. The staring alone!"

Cas rolled his eyes, but a small part of him was starting to hope that Gabriel might be right.

 

.

"Burgers must make you _really_ happy," Jess observed with a laugh.

Dean looked up from his food to find Sam and Jess both watching him with amused expressions. "What?" he asked defensively, mouth full of food.

"Dude. You've been smiling to yourself since you got home," Sam said.

"Which is _really_ weird considering how crabby you were all morning."

Dean rolled his eyes. "A guy's not allowed to be happy? Geez."

"So nothing's up?"

"Um...totally unrelated, but I might have a date tomorrow."

"What?" Sam asked, smile falling, "With who?"

"...You wouldn't know 'em," Dean lied, taking another bite of his burger. Maybe, if his mouth was full, they wouldn't try to interrogate him.

No such luck.

"But what about Cas?" Sam asked.

Dean froze mid-bite. "Whataya mean 'what about Cas?'"

Dean wasn't sure how Sam did it, but apparently he couldn't hide _anything_ from that kid. Sam grinned, smile wider than Dean had ever seen it. "Wait. No way. Is it _with_ Cas?"

"No! Shut up!" Dean argued. knowing his blush was giving him away.

"Well thank God. It's about time! I mean, after all, you guys _have_ already said 'I love you' to each other,'" Sam teased. Jess giggled, so apparently Sam had already told her the whole story.

"You said we'd never talk about that again!"

"Are you kidding? You are _never_ living that down. Hell, when you guys have kids, I'm gonna make sure they all have that story _memorized._ "

"Right. Well good luck with that."

"What are you guys doing tomorrow?" Jess asked, changing the subject.

"Dinner at his mom's place. It's not even a date, honestly. His mom always sets him up with strangers and I'm just pretending to be his date so he doesn't have to deal with that."

"But you want it to be a date?" Jess pressed.

Dean sighed. With the two of them tag-teaming him like this, he'd never be able to have any secrets. He wasn't _that_ easy to read, was he? He didn't think he was...either way, they were both gonna make great lawyers. "I might not mind it."

"I can't believe you guys are starting to date _the day_ I leave," Sam complained. "We could've doubled."

"We're not dating! It wasn't even Cas who asked me; it was his brother. I'm really just helping Cas out."

"Oh, I'm sure you're going to help him out plenty, Dean," Jess said with a straight face. Sam snorted. "What are you wearing?"

"I have no idea."

"Want me to help you pick something out? Maybe tomorrow, after Sam leaves?"

"Oh my God, yes. You are a saint, Jessica Moore."

 

Sam left early the next morning. Dean and Jess went to the airport with him to see him off. There was a tearful goodbye between the two lovers, and the tears weren't just from Jessica. Dean thought it was hilarious.

Sam left with promises to visit, and Dean and Jess had to promise to visit Sam in California.

When Sam was gone, Jess had Dean try on _everything in his closet._ Jess ended up choosing this suit Dean had only worn a few times, saying it "streamlined" his torso or something and that it made his ass look fantastic.

"I wish I could see Castiel's face when he sees you in this," Jess grinned.

Dean rolled his eyes. "This isn't _prom,_ Jess. It's not that big of a deal."

"Mhm. We’ll see.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Accidentally wrote a really long chapter...AKA there's another chapter coming within the half hour, so stay tuned!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Accidentally wrote a really long chapter so I split it into two. Here's the second part. 
> 
> "Naomi is out of character--" SSSHHhhhhhhh. I'd had enough of the angst in this fic, okay? So I wanted things to be happy. Sue me.
> 
> On that note, I make no apologies for Catstiel the cat.

Cas stood outside Dean’s door. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Then he even jumped up and down a few times, trying to shake off his excess energy, and told himself he was being stupid. He and Dean had hung out dozens—probably _hundreds—_ of times, and he’d never gotten this nervous. Besides, this wasn’t a date. It was one friend helping another friend.

On that note, he finally gathered the courage to knock on Dean’s door.

The omega answered it in seconds, standing before Cas in a sleek gray suit and a green tie that made his eyes pop. He was looking tall, lean, and downright _edible._ Castiel’s mouth fell open and he was pretty sure he was doing something that could be classified as “ogling,” but he honestly couldn’t help it.

“I take it this suit was a good choice, then?” Dean asked with a laugh.

Cas nodded.

“Awesome. Jess helped me pick it out. You wanna come in?”

Cas nodded again.

“So Sam’s gone already?” Cas asked, finding his voice once he was in the apartment and no longer looking at Dean. He lost it again when Dean walked past him and he saw the omega’s ass in those wonderfully tight pants.

“Yep,” Dean said, closing his window and shutting the curtains, “His flight left this morning. It’ll be weird not having the kid around.”

“I can imagine.”

“You okay, man? You seem a little off.”

“I’m fine. Dean, about tonight…you know I would understand if you changed your mind, right?”

“Do you _want_ me to change my mind?” Dean asked, eyebrows drawing together.

“No.”

“Then I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Castiel sighed, “But promise me that whatever my family says tonight will not alter your opinion of me.”

“I promise,” Dean grinned. “They really that bad?”

“Worse. You have been warned,” Cas said. “Shall we?”

“Sure.”

“Oh—I took a cab here. Can you drive?”

“Uh, yeah,” Dean said, backtracking to grab his keys off the table and then following Cas out the door, “Why’d you take a cab?”

Castiel sighed. “Anna and Alek borrowed my car to drive to Wisconsin.”

“What’s in Wisconsin?” Dean asked, making a face.

“I think they were just trying to avoid this party,” Cas shrugged.

 

On the drive over, Cas gave Dean the lo-down on the Novaks. Gabriel and Kali were good. Lucifer was weird, but also good. Hael, the cousin staying with them for the summer, was sweet but shy.

Dean was to look out for Naomi, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel.

Raphael and Uriel weren’t technically family, but Raphael was an old friend of Naomi’s and Uriel was his son. They were treated like family.

The more Castiel talked the more nervous Dean got. Cas was _really_ hyping this up. It didn’t help that Cas directed him to the poshest neighborhood he’d ever been in.

“Holy shit, this is your _house_?!” Dean freaked when Cas told him to park on the side of the road. He gaped up at the architectural monstrosity. It wasn’t a house. He refused to call it that. Mansion, more like.

“You must be friggin’ _loaded,_ ” he said as he got out of the car after Cas.

“You’ve seen my house. This is my mother’s. _She’s_ loaded, not me.”

“That’s just what rich people say,” Dean grumbled. “You coulda’ warned me about this, Paris Hilton.”

Neither of them realized they had an audience until Cas heard a chuckle behind him. “I don’t know who your date is, Castiel, but I like him.”

“Lucifer,” Cas said, greeting the tall, blonde man that strutted up to them. He looked _nothing_ like Cas, but neither had Gabriel. “This is Dean. He’s a colleague of mine.”

“Ah. Finally got tired of mom choosing your dates for you?” Lucifer smirked. Seriously what was with the names in their family? Cas said it was something to do with their dad being super religious. The older Novak alpha held a hand out for Dean to shake. “Pleasure.”

“Likewise.”

Cas nodded. “Dean agreed to accompany me tonight so Naomi would believe I brought my own date.”

“Yeah, but it’s not gonna work if you _tell everyone,_ Cas.”

Lucifer laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me. It’s Luke, by the way. Cassie is one of the only ones who still calls me Lucifer.”

“As long as you insist on calling me ‘Cassie,’ I will continue to call you ‘Lucifer,’” Cas grumbled.

“Gorgeous wheels, by the way, Dean,” Luke said, ignoring Cas. “She looks like she’s in excellent condition. Who do you go to for upkeep? I’ve got an old ’63 Sting Ray that’s been sitting in my garage gathering dust for years.”

“A—seriously? Damn. I don’t trust anyone to work on my Baby but me. I know a thing or two about classic cars—I could take a look at yours sometime if you want.”

“I would love that,” Luke said, humming excitedly. A slow smile spread across his face. “Naomi and Michael aren’t going to like you one bit. I can’t wait,” he said, winking at Dean before proceeding up the driveway.

“Don’t let him get to you. It won’t be that bad,” Cas said unconvincingly, holding out his hand for Dean to take.

They followed Luke up the driveway, walking hand in hand. “I’ll be on y best behavior,” Dean teased. Cas chuckled and rolled his eyes, walking inside behind Lucifer.

Dean’s jaw dropped when he stepped inside. He’d only been in a house like this once, while on a case. He and Benny had to question some millionaire couple about their son, who was their number one suspect in a missing omega case.

They were standing in a large, hollow foyer, complete with a freaking _crystal chandelier_ hanging from the ceiling. Despite being dressed the part, Dean felt woefully out of place.

Gabriel was standing off to his right with a gorgeous women Dean could only assume was Kali. Gabe beamed when he saw Cas and Dean walk through the door. “Dean-o! You made it!”

Dean was about to respond when an older woman entered the room. Everybody stiffened and went silent and Dean would’ve laughed at how cheesy it all was if he wasn’t so worried about making the wrong impression.

Naomi Novak was wearing a crisp, business-formal gray dress and her brown hair was pulled back into a bun. She was an attractive woman, and if it weren’t for the death stare and rigid posture Dean would actually say she almost looked _sweet._

Even rarer than a male omega was a female alpha, but this woman _exuded_ alpha. She held herself rigidly, her eyes studying first Luke and then Cas with a cold gaze. Finally, when she looked at Dean and her eyes dropped to where his hand was held in Castiel’s, the ice in her gaze melted just a little.

Dean thought he saw something of Cas in her expression—there was just something about the seriousness there that was the same, even if Naomi was colder than Cas could ever be. He definitely saw the resemblance between Cas and the alpha standing behind Naomi—he assume it was the infamous Michael—but again, Michael seemed to lack Cas’ kindness. And Dean _really_ didn’t like the way Michael was studying him. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and he subconsciously shuffled closer to Cas.

“You’re late,” Naomi said, addressing Lucifer and Castiel, “I was worried we would have to start without you.”

“It’s 6:10, mom,” Lucifer said, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t call that being ‘late.’”

“Lucifer Novak, I will say this only once—I am in no mood to oput up with your attitude. If you’re going to be like this all night, I would rather you were so in your own home.”

“I’ll behave.”

“Good. Now, Castiel, you’re being rude. Are you going to ntriduce us to your lovely date or not?”

“Right. Mother, this is Dean. Dean, this is—“

“Naomi,” the woman interrupted, holding out a hand. “Dean…?”

“Winchester. It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he said. Holy shit, how was he so nervous? He’d faced murderers and rapists, but his best friend’s mom scared the shit out of him?

He was too experienced to let it show, though. When he shook Naomi’s hand his grip was firm and steady, and he heard Naomi give a thoughtful hum. Was that too bold of him? Cas said she was traditional—maybe she didn’t approve of confident omegas. Should he tone it down? Avert his eyes, maybe? That was a thing submissive omegas did, right?

He was being stupid. Cas told him to just be himself, anyway, and since when did “Dean” and the word “Submissive” go together? He just _really_ wanted to make a good impression on his—dare he say it—potential future mate’s mother.

“Do I detect an accent? Are you originally from Chicago, Dean?”

“Uh, no. I grew up in Kansas then spent a while in South Dakota before moving here.”

“I see. You moved here with your family?”

“No, my family’s all back in Kansas.”

Naomi raised an eyebrow and Dean immediately got the sense he’d said something wrong. “An unmated omega living on his own? That’s a little reckless, don’t you think?”

“Uh…”

Cas, bless him, came to Dean’s aid. “He wasn’t alone. Robert Singer—my boss—unofficially adopted Dean years ago. Bobby used to live in South Dakota, then Dean moved here with him.”

Naomi seemed appeased. “You met through work, then?”

“Dean actually helped Bobby interview me,” Cas nodded, not mentioning the fact that this “interview” consisted of them trying to beat each other up.

The alpha behind Naomi spoke for the first time. “You work _with_ Castiel? What place does an omega have at a federal agency? Are you a secretary, or…”

Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you seriously just ask me that?” he asked before the naggy little voice in his head (that sounded suspiciously like Sam) could tell him to shut up.

Michael frowned and Cas stepped forward, placing himself partially between Michael and Dean. Whether it was for Dean’s safety or Michael’s as anybody’s guess. Cas narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Dean is the OPA’s top agent, Michael, and can give _me_ a run for my money in a fight—I advise you not to get on his bad side. Or mine, for that matter.

Dean couldn’t read the expression Naomi wore as she watched her sons. It was either a sneer or a smile; he wasn’t sure which.

“So, um,” Gabriel began, trying to diffuse the tension, “We ever gonna eat, or what?”

Naomi chuckled. “Thank you, Gabriel, for reminding us all why we’re here this evening. I do believe dinner is ready, if we could move this conversation to the dining room.”

Dean leaned into Castiel’s space. “You got a bathroom?” he asked under his breath.

Cas nodded, pointing down the opposite hallway. “First door on the right. The dining room is just that way, when you’re done. You’ll find us easily.”

Dean noticed Naomi watching them and placed a chaste kiss on Castiel’s lips. “’Kay.”

Cas looked a little shell-shocked, but nodded.

 

Dean _could not believe_ the bathroom. It was the biggest private bathroom he’d seen…well, ever. It looked like it was taken straight out of a pottery barn catalogue.

Washing his hands, Dean frowned at the bowl of weird, shriveled-looking plants next to the soap. It made the room smell all sweet and flowery and Dean didn’t like it.

He splashed some cold water on his face and ran a hand through his hair before figuring he’d stalled long enough. He opened the door, surprised to find Michael standing in the hallway. “What are you…”

Michael nodded at the doorway. “Bathroom.”

“Oh,” Dean said, feeling his face heat up. So maybe he got suspicious too easily—which was his job’s fault, really—but this guy was giving off some majorly creepy vibes. Plus, he had that overly dominant air that Dean had seen in one too many criminals. And Dean was never one to doubt his instincts. “Right.”

“No hard feelings about earlier, I hope? It wasn’t my intention to offend.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve gotten worse.”

“That’s a shame,” Michael said, casually approaching, “Do you mind if I ask you a question? Off the record?”

“Um…I guess not.”

“Why Castiel?”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

“Dean,” Michael began patiently, stepping even closer to Dean. Nope, Dean definitely _wasn’t_ imagining the sexual posturing, then. Michael put a hand on the wall beside Dean’s head, cutting off the way back to the foyer. “You are a _beautiful_ omega, surely you know that. You could find an alpha much better suited to meet your needs than _Castiel._ ”

“What ‘needs’ are those, exactly?” Dean asked, narrowing his eyes at the alpha.

“As much as you try to deny it, you _are_ an omega. You need a _strong_ alpha, one that’s not afraid to fight for you or assert his dominance, if he needs to.”

“First off, I’m not denying _shit,_ buddy. Second, I don’t think you know your brother as well as you think you do. Third, if you seriously think _you’re_ the kind of alpha I ‘need,’ you’ve got another thing coming.”

Dean tried to slip past him, but Michael wrapped a hand around the omega’s wrist, stopping Dean short. “I won’t make this offer again,” Michael growled out, his grp on Dean’s arm tightening painfully.

“Good. That means I’m not going to have to reject you more than once. You gonna let go, or do I have to call Cas in here?”

Michael, to his credit, did let go, stepping back and holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. “Alright, alright. I just wanted you to know you had options—no need to put up a fuss.”

Dean scowled. Right. _He_ was the unstable one for getting upset in this situation. He pushed past the alpha and made his way to the dining room, making himself relax and take a deep breath before joining everyone.

“Did you get lost?” Cas teased as Dean took the empty seat next to him.

“No, but you were right—your brother really is a dick,” Dean mumbled quietly so only Cas could hear.

Castiel’s smile disappeared. “ _What did he do?_ ”

“I’ll tell you later—it’s not really a big deal.”

“Like _hell_ it isn’t. Dean—“

Naomi interrupted, introducing Dean to everyone at the table. He knew most of their names from stories Cas had told. Michael walked in at some point during the introductions, sitting at Naomi’s right hand.

Uriel and Raphael, Dean quickly discovered, were cut from the same cloth as Michael. By “cut from the same cloth,” he meant that they were both sexist morons that made several degrading comments about omega with Dean sitting _right there_. By some miracle, Dean managed to keep his mouth shut for most of the meal. Cas kept shooting him apologetic glances, and Dean just shrugged and rolled his eyes whenever he did.

Dean still wasn’t sure what kind of “cloth” Naomi was made from—if she _did_ dislike him, she didn’t make her disdain obvious (like Michael did now that he’d been rejected). She was the picture of politeness, and so Dean extended her the same courtesy. Dean wasn’t sure what to make of her, and he got the feeling she wasn’t sure what to make of him, either.

The food itself made this whole awkward evening worth it, if Dean was being completely honest. It was fucking fantastic. He’d been pretty intimidated at first because there were a million plates and bowls and utensils for a million different purposes and he had no idea what to use and when to use it.

He’d looked at Cas with panic in his eyes and Cas had quickly caught on. He’d leaned in, whispering a quick etiquette lesson in Dean’s ear. To anyone looking at them— Naomi, for example, who’d had her hawk-like gaze fixed on Dean since he sat down—it would look like Castiel was kissing his neck, or maybe whispering the sweet nothings one lover says to another when they think no one else can hear.

Dean wouldn’t know; he’d never had a lover. Well, he’d had _lovers_ , if that term included one night stands and quick hook-ups with beta girls whose scents annoyed him, but he’d never had _a_ Lover, capital L. He’d never had a relationship, and so he didn’t know how any of this relationship stuff was supposed to work. But Cas made it easy.

Point is, Dean felt Castiel’s warm breath on his neck and heard Castiel’s gravelly voice in his ear and suddenly Castiel’s hand was on his knee, his thumb massaging gentle circles into his skin. Dean was pretty sure he was sporting the blush of the century.

There were two separate conversations going on for most of the meal. Dean figured that’s what happened when your table was as big as a normal person’s _entire kitchen._ He wasn’t complaining, though. Naomi, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel’s conversation mostly kept to their half of the table, and that left the rest of them to talk freely.

Naomi interrogated Dean periodically, though, obviously trying to work out what kind of person he was. Dean quickly shook off his initial nervousness, feeling much more like himself after his confrontation with Michael. That was something familiar to him.

Occasionally, they couldn’t help but overhearing bits of Raphael, Uriel, and Michael’s conversation. Like when Uriel told a crude anecdote about his secretary.

“Uriel,” Cas interrupted, sounding annoyed, “Do you mind saving that conversation for a more private setting?”

“Don’t start with your usual condescension tonight, Castiel,” Michael scoffed, “I don’t think you’re in a position to be judging anyone.”

Cas narrowed his eyes at Michael. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, boy. Everyone brace yourselves,” Gabriel murmured to Dean and Kali. At the same time, Lucifer said “Shit’s about to get good.”

“It _means,_ Castiel,” Michael continued, standing, “That you’re no better than the rest of us. At least _I_ would have enough decency not to bring my meal ticket to a family dinner.”

“His _what_?” Dean asked loudly.

“I don’t think I was talking to you, Dean. Learn your place.”

“Michael,” Castiel growled out a warning.

Dean had seen Cas angry before, of course, but never like this. The alpha’s whole body was coiled, ready to spring, and the expression “if looks could kill” took on a whole new meaning. Boy, was Dean glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of Castiel’s ire.

Dean was distracted from the rising tension between the two alphas when he noticed Naomi lean back in her seat with a small smile. And it was _definitely_ a smile this time. How creepy was that?

She didn’t seem like she was going to do anything to discourage the fight that was about to break out between her two sons.

Dean was about to tell Cas to chill, but then Michael opened his mouth again and frankly, Dean decided he’d _love_ it if Cas kicked his ass.

“Tell me, Castiel: how long did you have to sleep with Dean before he got you your new job?”

Cas stood up in a flash, the chair he’d been sitting in flying backward and crashing loudly to the ground. Planting both hands on the table, Castiel leaned in and let out a feral growl. “How _dare_ you—“

Michael seemed taken aback by his brother’s sudden fury, but he quickly recovered.

“Please,” he scoffed, “If he really means anything to you why haven’t you mated him yet? Clever, Castiel, but he’s just your in with the boss. You as good as said so yourself.”

“Keep talking, Michael,” Castiel challenged. “I would love nothing more than to leap across this table and _tear your fucking throat out._ ”

Okay. Dean was officially turned on. Terrible timing, he knew, but _holy shit_ Cas was hot when he went all ‘righteously angry alpha defending his omega’s honor.’ Dean was man enough to admit it.

Cas was normally so…docile, for lack of a better word. While he was _definitely_ an alpha, he didn’t flaunt it. Castiel was always the epitome of control.

But here he was, growling and snarling and posturing all because someone was saying a few bad things about Dean.

“Holy shit,” Gabe said, staring at Cas in shock. “Mikey, I really don’t think he’s joking—“

Michael was either very stupid or very determined. He stalked around the table, approaching the fuming alpha. He didn’t seem to think Cas would follow through with his threat. Dean wasn’t so sure. Since Gabe pointed it out, Dean realized Cas might be a little _too_ tightly wound. The cold snap—when it happened—was gonna be bad.

“You’ve been thinking it too, Gabriel. Everyone has. I mean come on, Castiel, this bitch obviously isn’t mating material—“

Nobody but Dean saw the hit coming. One second Michael was sneering at Dean and the next he was on the ground, clutching at his nose. He sat up, his nose gushing blood, and looked up at Castiel with shock.

“Castiel Novak!” Naomi growled, standing up.

 Cas probably would have hit Michael again if Dean hadn’t jumped up, slipping between Cas and his brother and stopping Cas with a hand to his chest. “Cas! Hey, look at me.”

Cas did, obviously still angry but relaxing slightly when Dean caught and held his gaze. “Dean, he—“

“I know, but you need to chill,” he said, keeping Castiel’s eyes on him. He probably would’ve been able to calm Cas down if Naomi hadn’t chosen that moment to step in.

“Castiel, you need to control yourself,” Naomi scolded.

“How can you say that to me?” Cas snapped, turning on her. He wrapped an arm around Dean’s waist, hauling the omega to his side. “Don’t you get it? I _love_ Dean, and I’m not just going to sit back and listen as Michael continues to disrespect _my omega_ —“

Cas broke off mid-sentence, looking at Dean with wide eyes. His hand on Dean’s waist loosened, but Dean didn’t step away. “That didn’t—I mean, it’s not that you’re _mine_ —“

Dean shut him up with a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t stop now, Cas. You were on a roll.”

“Fuck. I think you broke my nose,” Michael growled from his spot on the ground.

“Good,” Dean spat. As much as he like having Cas stand up for him or whatever, he couldn’t just let this one go. “And you didn’t seem to mind me not being ‘mating material’ when you made a pass at me in the hallway, asshole.”

“Is that true?” Naomi asked, voice cold.

“Of course not,” Michael scoffed.

“You’re lying. Michael, are you telling me that not only did you interrupt our dinner and intentionally provoke your brother, but you also disrespected my guest and betrayed Castiel?”

“I…”

Naomi growled. “In that case, Castiel was justified in his actions, Michael, and you’re just lucky Dean stopped him before he did worse,” Naomi said. She turned to Raphael and Uriel, “Would the two of you mind driving him to the hospital?”

Michael pushed himself to his feet, glaring at Castiel, and was about to storm out the door when Cas stopped him.

“Wait.”

“What?” Michael snapped, turning to look at Cas.

“You owe Dean an apology,” Castiel said calmly. Most of the anger was gone, but Dean could tell it was boiling just beneath the surface.

Dean almost laughed at the look on Michael’s face. Holy shit, Cas was awesome.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

A muscle jumped in Michael’s jaw, and he looked to Naomi for help, but she offered none. He glared at Cas for a long while, and Cas must’ve won whatever power struggle was going on between them because Michael dropped his gaze for a brief second before turning to Dean with a steely expression. “I’m sorry,” he gritted out.

“Apology accepted,” Dean said with a cheeky smile.

“Now you can leave,” Cas said.

When Michael was gone Lucifer started clapping, slowly at first then steadily gaining speed. “Bravo! Encore!”

“Lucifer, I’m still not opposed to throwing you out,” Naomi said, no real heat behind her words.

While everyone else was occupied, Dean leaned in to whisper in Castiel’s ear, just as Cas had done to him earlier. “You were really, _really_ hot just now.”

Castiel’s mouth fell open. He pulled away to look at Dean, blue eyes wide. “I was?”

Dean just nodded shyly, nudging Castiel’s shoulder with his own. Cas offered him a small, confused smile in return.

Suffice to say, they wrapped up the party pretty quickly after that.

Luke was the first to leave, clapping Dean on the back and thanking him for “the most entertaining family dinner since Gabriel put whoopee cushions on Castiel, Michael, and Naomi’s seats.” Dean wasn’t sure how Cas breaking Michael’s nose after a big, dramatic showdown didn’t beat that, but maybe it was one of those “you had to be there” kind of things.

Gabriel and Kali left shortly after, and Cas suggested they flee before Naomi could yell at either of them for ruining dinner, but she caught them in the foyer.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” she asked, hands on her hips. “Dean, I’d like to speak with you privately, if you don’t mind.”

Castiel’s grip on Dean’s hand tightened.

“It’s fine, Cas,” Dean said. After all, he was the reason one of her sons beat up another. He figured he owed her one conversation, at least.

He’d been expecting this, anyways. She was gonna say he wasn’t right for Cas or he was a bad influence and then she was gonna forbid him from seeing Cas anymore or some shit like that.

“I’d like to apologize for Michael’s behavior,” Naomi began when they were alone, catching Dean off guard. “I don’t know if you’ve realized by now, but there is one thing that takes priority in my life: family.”

“Sure. I’m the same way,” Dean said. So she was mad at him for turning her sons against each other? He’d probably be pissed too, if he was her.

“I’m glad to hear it. I’ll admit I was unsure about you at first. I normally don’t engage with… _progressive_ omegas. I believe in the preserving of traditional gender roles.   _However,_ I’m beginning to see that I should rethink my position.”

Wait…what?

“Castiel hasn’t brought a date to dinner since his college girlfriend Meg, and she was…” Naomi trailed off, giving Dean an exasperated look, “Well, let’s just say I greatly prefer you to her.”

“Thanks…I think.”

He had to give one thing to Naomi—she was really freaking good at the backhanded compliment. Dean was just glad she was giving him a stamp of approval. At least, he _thought_ that’s what was happening.

“Castiel has always been very loving,” Naomi said fondly, sounding like a mother for the first time all night. She tilted her head to one side, and Dean _finally_ saw the resemblance between her and Cas. “When he was seven, his cat died. He _loved_ Cat—“

“Cat?” Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

To his surprise, Naomi laughed. She looked like an entirely different person when she smiled. “Uh, yes. Gabriel convinced Castiel to name the cat after himself.”

“Castiel the cat?” Dean chuckled.

“Not quite. _Catstiel_ the cat.”

Dean snorted. Oh, man, Cas was gonna hear about this later.

Naomi nodded. “I regretted telling them they could name it after that. Anyways, when that Cat died, Castiel was devastated. He swore he would never love anything again. He couldn’t help himself, of course. But he’s never loved anyone as much as he seems to love you.”

 _Oh._ That got serious fast.

“And it seems to me that Castiel is a better man around you. He stands up for what he believes in now, even when it requires fighting his older brother. I must admit, I’ve been waiting a long time for Castiel to put Michael in his place.”

Dean couldn’t help himself; he laughed. “Seriously? You’re okay with what happened?”

Naomi shrugged, smiling slightly. “He had it coming to him.”

Okay. This chick was crazy. It was working in his favor, though, so he wasn’t about to argue.

“I’m surprised to admit it, but I like you, Dean. Maybe it’s because I admire strength—something you seem to have plenty of. And of course, I don’t think I could dislike anyone that really makes Castiel happy. Whatever the reason, I’m honored to welcome you to my family,” she finished, holding out a hand for Dean to shake.

When he took her hand, Naomi did that thing Cas sometimes did with handshakes when the situation was particularly serious, taking Dean’s hand in both of hers.

Dean figured that was as good as a hug from Naomi.

 

“She didn’t threaten you, did she?” Cas asked nervously as they walked to the Impala.

“ _What_?” Dean laughed, sliding into the driver’s seat.

“When I brought Meg home for the first time, Naomi threatened her.”

“Seriously? Damn. She did say Meg was pretty awful.”

“You talked about Meg?” Cas asked, making a face.

“Yup. Talked about a lot of things. Me and your mom are pretty much BFF’s now.”

“ _Dean,_ ” Cas whined.

“Fine,” Dean laughed, “I’ll be serious.”

He took a deep breath and reached for Castiel’s hand. He looked into the alpha’s eyes, his expression as serious as he could make it, considering. “I was so sorry to hear about Catstiel’s passing.”

Castiel’s eyes went wide and he yanked his hand away. He looked completely horrified, and it was Cas’ expression that made Dean completely lose it. He laughed so hard tears streamed from his eyes, and it was a long time before he could even _think_ about trying to drive.

“Why would she tell you about that?!” Cas asked, mortified. It just made Dean laugh harder. “I was _five,_ Dean!”

Dean shook his head, just focusing on trying to get enough oxygen into his lungs. Cas went into his pouty mode, crossing his arms and staring out the window.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Dean laughed, finally turning the car on and pulling away. “You love me.”

Cas just hummed in response.

“Seriously, though. Your mom just said that she liked me and she welcomed me to family.”

“She _what_?” Cas asked, forgetting that he was supposed to be pouting. “She said that? _Naomi?_ Are we talking about the same woman?”

“Yeah! I was shocked too!”

“Incredible. Um…in what context was Cat mentioned?”

Dean started laughing again.

“Dean!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Dean grinned. “I think that part’s gonna stay between me and Naomi, actually.”

Cas started pouting again, but Dean paid him no heed. “I was so surprised when she said she liked me. I thought after that whole thing with Michael…”

“I’m sorry about that as well, by the way.”

“No worries. It was my fault.”

“Yes, Dean,” Cas agreed dryly, “Clearly, it’s your fault for being attractive and remaining faithful to your fake date.”

Dean laughed. “Am I dropping you off at home?”

“Yes, please.”

Dean nodded. In that case, they were only a few minutes away. After everything that happened over the past few days, Dean decided he might as well go out on a limb. “So, um, I get that this was a fake date or whatever, but what if…it wasn’t?”

“Then that would be a terrible first date,” Cas hummed, looking out the window. It took a few seconds for him to get what Dean meant. “Wait. Are you saying that you wanted this to be a date?” he asked, turning to study the omega closely.

“No,” Dean squeaked, squirming nervously. He refused to take his eyes off the road. “Maybe.”

They reached Castiel’s house _way_ too quickly for Dean’s taste. He pulled into the driveway and cut the engine, and they both sat in silence for a while before Castiel finally said something.

“Dean, I’m confused. What are we, exactly?”

Dean took a deep breath and looked at Cas. He couldn’t see any of the blue in Castiel’s eyes in the darkness, but he could see that he had the alpha’s full attention. “Sorry if it seems like I’m stringing you along or something. I’m not. I’m just really bad at…well, talking.”

“That’s okay,” Cas said quietly.

“I kinda really like you,” Dean admitted in a rush, smiling nervously at Castiel’s shocked expression.

“I’m glad,” Castiel said, speaking slowly. “Because I ‘kinda really like you’ as well. But you knew that.”

“Yeah,” Dean breathed. “So what now?”

Cas laughed. “Seal it with a kiss?”

Castiel didn’t wait for Dean’s response, leaning and kissing Dean. It was their shortest and sweetest kiss yet, but it left Dean more breathless than all of the others combined.

“Then…” Cas breathed against the omega’s lips, “Would you like to come inside?”

“Fuck yes,” Dean growled, pulling Cas in for another kiss. He felt Castiel’s smile against his lips, felt the alpha’s thumb caress his cheek.

Dean cringed and pulled away. “Wait.”

Castiel’s face fell. “What?”

Chuckling, Dean leaned in to kiss the worry off Cas’ face. “I’m not having second thoughts about… _this_ , whatever this is. Just the coming inside part.”

“Oh.”

“My suppressants haven’t worn off yet. So we couldn’t, you know…I have work I need to get done tonight, anyways.”

Cas nodded. “I understand. Dean…after your suppressants wear off? What then?”

“Then we can…you know,” Dean smiled.

Cas hummed, kissing Dean. “I can’t do anything casual with you, Dean. I think it might kill me.”

“I know, dork. I don’t think you got what I was saying earlier. When I say ‘I kinda really like you,’ that’s my way of saying…I kinda actually love you, and—“

Cas made a strangled sound and yanked Dean in for a rough kiss. Dean reached up and tangled a hand in Castiel’s hair, loving that he was allowed to touch freely.

“—and I wanna be your mate,” he finished breathlessly when Cas decided to let him breathe.

“Good,” Cas growled, placing light kisses on every inch of Dean’s skin he could reach.

“Oh. But _right_ after my suppressants wear off I’m gonna go into heat.”

Cas pulled away, studying Dean thoughtfully. “I don’t want to have sex with you while you’re in heat.”

“ _What_?” Dean whined, “What’s the point of having you if you’re not gonna help me with my heat?”

Cas chuckled. “My apologies. If it’s going to be our first time, I’d like it if you were fully yourself.”

“Easy for you to say,” Dean grumbled, “You’re not the one that’s gotta go through heat.”

“You’re tough. You can handle it.”

“Screw you,” Dean said, elbowing Cas playfully. “Get the hell out of my car.”

“As you wish,” Castiel smiled (they’d watched the Princess Bride at their last movie night and since then, it had been Castiel’s favorite thing to quote). Dean rolled his eyes.

“Wait,” Dean said as Cas was starting to climb out of the car, grabbing the alpha’s tie and pulling him back in for a final kiss. “Okay. See you at work tomorrow.”

“Sleep well, Dean.”

 

Dean did _not_ sleep well that night.

When he woke up the next morning, his entire body was on fire and he couldn’t move without slick leaking out of his body. The suppressants had worn off much faster than he thought they would.

He was in heat.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean's in heat. Cas is a protective, self-doubting idiot.

“Fuck,” Dean hissed, squeezing his eyes shut. The heat was just starting, which meant he had all of the physical discomfort while still being painfully aware of everything that was going on. By the second and third days everything got hazy, and that made it easier to bear. The first day was the worst.

His skin was on fire, his cotton sheets felt like Velcro against his skin, and his limbs felt like they were made of lead, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst part was the emptiness, the need to bend over for some alpha and have his hole filled by a big, thick knot.

Already, he was hard as a rock and steadily leaking slick. It wasn’t exactly comfortable.

He tugged his boxers off and kicked them off entirely, not caring where they landed. He wrapped a hand around his cock and stroked a couple times, so tightly wound that he came with a shudder and whimper just a minute later.

It helped, but only a little. His skin was still too hot; his head was still pounding. The only difference was that now his limbs were loose and he had come all over his hands and t-shirt.

He eventually made himself sit up and tug the shirt off, throwing it on the floor because—let’s face it—it was going to be a messy three days.

Dean really wished he’d taken Cas up on the offer to come inside the night before. If Cas caught a whiff of or got a look at Dean like this, he was pretty sure the alpha would rethink his “not while you’re in heat” bullshit. Dean got where he was coming from, in theory. There were weird consent issues with heat sex; he’d worked enough accidental-mating-during-heat cases to know that better than anyone. But _in practice,_ he needed Cas _right friggin’ now_.

He grabbed his phone, wincing at how bright the light was to his sensitive eyes— _everything_ got more sensitive when you went into heat, unfortunately—and checked the time. It was still early, but late enough that Bobby would definitely be in the office.

Dean called him.

“Hey, Bobby,” Dean said when the man answered.

“Dean. You running late or something?”

“Actually, I’m gonna have to take a sick day.”

“A sick day? _You_?”

“Yeah. Or two or three.”

“Damn. What’s wrong with you?”

Cringing, Dean rubbed at the back of his neck. “I told you; I had to go off my suppressants.”

“Oh. Gotcha. So you’re already…you’re, erm…” Bobby stammered. Dean was glad he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable talking about this.

“In heat? Unfortunately.”

“Okay. Well do ya…you know…have everything you need?”

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, frowning.

Bobby sighed loudly. “Supplies. Do you have the supplies you need? For, um…”

“Oh. Bobby,” Dean groaned, “ _Gross_.”

“Hey, this ain’t no picnic for me either, boy, but I’d rather have someone bring you what you need than have you tryin’ to go out and get it yourself.”

“I’m not an idiot, Bobby. And I’ll be fine without anyone bringin’ me anything.”

“Alright. If you’re sure. Call if you do end up needing anything.”

“Will do. Thanks.”

After hanging up, Dean couldn’t resist texting Cas.

 

**You sure you don’t wanna rethink your ‘no heat sex’ thing?**

 

It took Cas all of ten seconds to call Dean.

“You’re in heat?” he asked instead of his usual “Hello, Dean.”

Dean bit back the moan that threatened to escape when he heard his friend’s voice. Cas could really have a great career as one of those people that read the audio versions of erotica, whatever they were called. But then, Dean didn’t want that voice being used for anyone’s pleasure but his own. Hmm. He really hoped Cas had a dirty mouth…

 _So_ not the right time to be thinking about this.

“Good morning to you too,” Dean said, managing to sound normal, like he _wasn’t_ imagining how Cas’ voice would sound giving him orders.

“Dean.”

“Yeah, I’m in heat.”

Castiel took a deep breath. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“Actually, yeah. I need you to get your dumb alpha ass down here so you can fuck me into next week—“

“Don’t,” Cas growled, sounding like he was in pain. “Dean, I can’t. Especially since your heat hit so soon after last night’s conversation.”

Dean frowned, not sure what that had to do with anything. “But—“

“No, Dean. Just get through the next few days and we’ll talk then. Drink lots of water; don’t forget to eat. _Do not_ leave your apartment for anything, do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dean cringed, immediately regretting what he’d just said. He’d meant it sarcastically, but it came out sounding one part sarcastic, one part needy, and two parts desperate. Plus, now he was picturing Cas fucking him while making Dean call him “sir,” and that was an image he really didn’t need in his head.

It was made even more awkward when Cas didn’t immediately respond. The alpha cleared his throat loudly before continuing. “If you need anything, call Charlie or Bobby and I’m sure they’ll be happy to—“

“Yep. Got it,” Dean said, wanting the call to end so he could curl up and die from embarrassment. “But I need to talk to stop talking to you or I swear to God I’m gonna go insane. Talk to you later.”

Dean hung up after Cas said goodbye. He put his phone on the nightstand, rolled over, and promptly fell asleep.

 

Castiel stared down at his phone, stared well past when Dean’s name faded and the screen went dark. This changed things.

He stared so long that he gave a startled jolt when his phone suddenly came to life. Anna’s smiling face lighting up the screen.

“Hello?”

“Castiel! How could you not tell me you were bringing Dean to dinner? Alek and I wouldn’t have ditched if we knew!”

Cas chuckled. “You were already gone by the time Dean agreed to go. Maybe you should treat that as a lesson not to abandon us all to Naomi’s clutches anymore. Who told you about Dean?”

“Luke. I just got a text from him saying I ‘missed a fun night with Dean and the fam.’ What happened? Mom wasn’t too hard on Dean, was she?”

“Actually, she liked him.”

“ _Really_? She said that?”

“To his face, yes. She even welcomed him to the family. I maintain my theory that it’s virtually impossible to dislike Dean. For once, our darling mother isn’t what made the evening interesting.”

“No?”

“I broke Michael’s nose.”

“You _what_? Please tell me it was an accident.”

“Quite the contrary. I punched him in the face.”

“Oh my God! You did not!”

“I did. He insulted Dean. He deserved worse, honestly.”

“I can’t believe it. What did Dean say? Did he thank you? Or was he mad?”

“He said…” Cas trailed off, aware of the blush creeping up his neck. “He said I was ‘hot.’”

Anna giggled. “Nu-uh! Way to go, Cassie!”

“I’m not sure if it’s really that good, Anna. I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Hypothetically, if an omega were to confess their love for you and then go into heat a few hours later…could that confession be believed? Or was it influenced by the heat and therefore not to be trusted?”

“Oh. I see. Um…”

Cas frowned. “That doesn’t sound promising.”

“Well it could go either way. _Hypothetically_ , he could’ve been saying that _because_ of preexisting feelings, but on the other hand…well, you know how weirdly sentimental I always get during my heats.”

“But never so sentimental that you told someone you loved them when you didn’t right?”

“Well, no…but you know how many times I decided I had a crush on you. Clearly, I wasn’t exactly in control of my emotions.”

“ _What_? When was this?”

“You didn’t know that?” Anna laughed. “Without fail, every time I got close to my heat I developed a massive crush on you. Oh, but there was one time you weren’t around so I somehow convinced myself I liked Lucifer. I mean, _Lucifer._ Obviously I didn’t like either of you. I think it’s a biological thing, you know? ‘Choose a good mate before you’re most fertile’ or something.”

“Ah,” Cas said, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

“Oh. Shit. Honey, I’m sorry. What do I know? I’m sure Dean knew exactly what he was saying. Dean was on suppressants, right? Does this mean he’s just getting off them? That could definitely change things…”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “Thank you for trying, Anna.”

“Anytime. Good luck.”

.

.

Dean lasted two days before he’d had enough.

Two days of desperately fucking himself on his fingers, of coming only to have that aching, empty feeling get worse. He’d lost track of how many times he’d come since this stupid heat started, but he knew that each and every thime had been completely unsatisfying. He needed more. He needed a knot. He needed an alpha to pin him down and fuck him into the mattress, to use him and fill him up, to mark up his skin and make him theirs.

But he didn’t need just any alpha. He needed it to be Cas.

He was well and truly fucked (only— _unfortunately—_ not in the biblical sense).

He was laying on his stomach, three fingers buried in his ass, whimpering Castiel’s name and imagining it was the alpha there, fucking him, when he came.

He dropped onto the mattress, legs and arms giving out, and rolled lazily onto his back. He must’ve dozed off for a few minutes, and when he woke up the feeling was back, worse than ever.

He’d forgotten how bad heats could get. This was his first heat in almost ten years, and it was wreaking its vengeance with a fury.

Dean had his phone in his hand before he knew what he was doing. He was dialing before he could stop himself.

“Dean? What—?”

“Please change your mind,” Dean breathed in a rush, “Please, Cas. Fuck, I need you. Need you so bad.”

Cas growled, the sound going straight to Dean’s painfully hard dick. He whimpered pitifully. He tried not to touch himself, he really did. I mean, he was _on the phone with Cas,_ for God’s sake, and Cas didn’t want him. Well, it’s not that Cas didn’t want him, and he knew that, but in the mind of an omega in heat “not right now” is the same as “not ever.”

Anyways, Dean started to palm himself, just hoping it would relieve some of the pressure. That, of course, didn’t last. He needed more.

“Dean, I can’t.”

“Are you alone?”

“I—yes. I’m at home.”

“Then talk to me. Cas. If you’re not gonna fuck me, please just lemme hear your voice ‘cause I—“ Dean broke off with a moan, fisting his cock with stuttered strokes.

“Fuck,” Cas swore under his breath. Dean heard some movement on the other end of the line. He let his eyes flutter shut, picturing Cas.  _Castiel._

“God, I love it when you swear, Cas. So hot. You’re so hot. And your _voice_ —“

“Are you touching yourself right now?” Cas asked abruptly, voice a thousand times lower than it had just been.

Dean moaned, bucking up into his hand. “Yeah,” he slurred, trailing his other hand lower. “Feels good. Wish it was you—“

Dean was circling his rim, about to push the first finger in when Castiel spoke again. “Stop touching yourself,” the alpha ordered. Dean gasped, pulling his hands away and doing what Cas told him to, much as it hurt. “Did you stop?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Good boy,” Cas hummed. It was a shame he couldn’t see the way Dean preened under the praise. “Turn your phone on speaker, if it’s not already.”

Again, Dean did as he said, excitedly fumbling with the device for a few seconds before he found the right button. “Okay.”

“Are you wearing anything? Describe yourself to me; I want to be able to picture you.”

“Shit,” Dean groaned, hips bucking up of their own accord. “I’m on my bed…all the sheets are kicked off. I’m on my back, all spread out. Not wearin’ anything.”

Cas moaned, and that in itself almost tipped Dean over the edge.

“Castiel, please. I need to touch. I can’t…I’m too hot and it hurts—“

“I know, baby,” Cas said, his voice rougher than Dean had ever heard it. Dean outright _mewled_ at the nickname, not enough shame left in him to care about the sounds spilling out of his mouth. “You can touch yourself now, Dean—lightly. And I don’t want you going near your hole for now.”

Dean followed the alpha’s instructions to the letter, despite his entire body aching for more, for harder and for faster. “Cas,” he panted.

“Christ, you have no idea what you do to me, Dean.”

“Are you—?” Dean asked. He pictured Cas, probably still dressed in his suit and tie, jacking himself while growling orders for Dean into his phone. He bit back another moan.

“ _Dean_ ,” Cas snapped, “Don’t you dare hold back. I want to hear you.”

Dean nodded, biting his lip.

“I assume you don’t need any preparation?”

“N-no,” Dean stuttered. Leave it to Cas to make a stiff, formal question hot as fucking hell.

“Thought not. I wish I could see you, Love, all spread open and ready to be fucked. So perfect. My perfect little omega. Tell me you’re mine, Dean; I want to hear you say it.”

“Yours,” Dean agreed breathlessly, completely thrown by the unexpected possessiveness.

“Good,” Cas said, his breath coming heavier. “I want you to fuck yourself now, Dean. I want your fingers buried deep in your body and I want you to imagine it’s my cock filling you up. Would you like that, sweetheart?”

“Yes. Fuck, yes. Please, Cas, oh God. I’m not gonna—“ Dean babbled, keening around the first finger, Once he added a second he honed in on his prostate, whimpering loudly when he found it. “Not gonna last, Cas. Alpha. I need to—“

Cas swore again, going quiet for a minute while Dean kept on begging.

“Do you have any toys?” Cas finally asked.

“No. Didn’t…didn’t think I needed any. Been so long. Cas—“

“Come for me,” Castiel ordered. “Come for me, my beautiful omega. Let me hear you.”

“Oh, Cas, I’m…” Dean moaned, back arching off the mattress as his orgasm ripped through him. “Fuck.”

Letting his eyes fall shut, Dean worked to catch his breath. It sounded like Cas was doing the same.

“Cas, did you…? I want you to come too, Cas, let me—“

“I think you overestimate my self-control,” Cas said with a shaky laugh.

“Oh. Good,” Dean smiled. “ _Holy shit,_ you have a dirty mouth. I was so not expecting that.”

“That would be the instincts. I _am_ still an alpha, if you had forgotten. But may I ask what it was you _were_ expecting? Tender, loving phone sex?”

Dean smiled, too drained to actually respond.

“Since you’re able to criticize my pillow talk, I assume you’re feeling better?”

“I ain’t criticizing a thing,” Dean mumbled. “It’s sexy as fuck.”

Castiel laughed. “That’s good to know. Dean, you know you shouldn’t be trying to get through your heat without even a fake knot to help you.”

“I can’t believe you’re really scolding me right now,” Dean said, pouting.

In his defense, it was his first heat in ten years. It’s not like he really needed toys when he was on sexual appetite-crushing hormones, and then he didn’t get a lot of advanced notice between going off his pills and the start of his heat.

“I know; you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Dean groaned, clapping a hand over his eyes. His body was already gearing up for round two; he could feel the heat building, starting in his gut and slowly spreading to his limbs. “I fuckin’ hate heats.”

“You’re already…?”

“Cas,” Dean whimpered for the umpteenth time. “Please come over.”

Cas sighed, and that was answer enough. “You are doing _so_ well, Dean. Just a little while longer. Then, if you still want me, I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll give you the world, Dean, you need only ask.”

Dean rolled his eyes. What he really needed right now wasn’t a grand romantic gesture. Something that Cas said struck him, and he frowned. “The hell do you mean, ‘if I still want you?’”

“Dean, this situation is more complicated now that—“

“What’s complicated about it? We’re true mates, Cas, of course I’m gonna—“

“We’re what?” Castiel asked quietly.

Dean cringed. Stupid heat. Stupid, stupid, stupid heat. He wasn’t going to say anything. He was going with his tried and true ‘wait and see’ plan. “Um…the doc said…’cause the things weren’t working, you know. And, um…she thought strong pheromones.”

“Who’s got strong pheromones?”

“No one. That’s the thing. It was supposed to be but it wasn’t, so Pam said it had to be…And then dreams and stuff, and…boy, it’s hot in here,” Dean finished.

“What dreams? Dean, you’re not making any sense.”

“Um…” He thought for sure what he just said made sense. “Ah, jeez, what do I know? I’m in heat. You know me—crazy omega. I’d say anything to land a mate, you know?”

“Don’t you try to change the subject, Dean Winchester—“

“I wouldn’t—uh, I gotta…It was nice talkin’ to ya, Cas. Thanks for helping me out. I’m gonna see if I can shower before it gets too bad again. Talk later—see ya!”

“Dean!”

Dean hung up, wincing. He totally botched _that_ conversation. He was gonna have a mess to clean up once this was over.

 

About an hour later, there was a knock on Dean’s door. After slipping on a t-shirt and sweatpants, Dean practically sprinted to answer it, hoping it was Castiel come changed his mind. When he looked through the door’s peephole (and kudos to him for even having the foresight to do _that_ ), he was slightly disappointed. Mostly, though, he was shocked. It certainly wasn’t Cas.

He unlocked and opened the door, giving the exuberant redhead standing in his doorway a confused look. “Hi?”

Anna Novak beamed up at Dean. “Hi, Dean!” she said, holding up her arms as if she was going to try to hug him. At the last moment she stepped back, wrinkling her nose. “Boy, you smell strong. How’s it going?”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “How do you _think_ it’s going? Oh my God. Cas called you.”

Anna shrugged apologetically. “Yeah, sorry. He gets really protective. Speaking of, he asked me to get you some…things,” Anna finished, holding up a bag.

Dean took it from her, afraid of what he’d find inside. He cringed when he pulled a long plastic box out of it. Yep. That was a dildo. Built-in inflatable knot and all. “Please tell me Cas didn’t buy this.”

Anna laughed. “No, that was me. Sorry. It’s weird; I know. Castiel insisted. He didn’t want you suffering unnecessarily.”

Dean made another face. “Nah, it’s cool. Just, you know, completely humiliating.”

“Hey, you can’t complain until _Gabriel_ is coming in to change your sheets while you’re in the middle of your heat.”

Laughing, Dean pulled the second object out of the bag. “What’s this?” he asked, turning the pill bottle over in his hand.

“Oooh, before I mated Alek, that stuff was a lifesaver. It’s tea—all natural and organic. It’s helps you sleep better and it actually takes the edge off the heat. I swear it’s magical.”

“Wow. Thanks, Anna. That’s…really thoughtful, actually,” Dean said, trying not to think about the fact that his best friend’s sister bought him a dildo.

“No problem. Oh! I’ve got a message from Castiel. He said ‘you’re going to talk about it eventually.’ I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but he sounded pretty determined.”

“Awesome,” Dean groaned, “I was afraid of that. But thanks. Again. You really didn’t have to do all this.”

Anna smiled at him. “You’re welcome. Well, um…you’re in heat, so I’ll let you get back to it, I guess.”

“Yeah. Thanks. It was nice seeing you—and tell Cas next time he has a message for me he can come and deliver it to my face.”

 

The heat began to wind down the following evening. By Thursday morning, Dean was feeling much better. He let himself sleep in, though, and when he rolled out of bed around 11 he took what was probably the most satisfying shower of his life (during which he did _not_ jerk off, thank you very much).

He did a quick load of laundry and opened all of his windows, trying to clear his apartment of his overly-sweet heat scent. After three days of bed ridden misery, he was feeling pretty productive. More importantly, he was itching to get out of his apartment.

Sure, he probably still smelled like a damn fruit basket, but he washed himself with a neutral-scented soap during his shower and figured that was good enough.

First, he’d stop by the OPA offices, pick up some stuff to work on later that evening, and then he figured he’d do some long overdue grocery shopping.

He threw on a pair of jeans and a worn plaid shirt and practically fled his stuffy apartment.

 

A few people—mostly alphas and omegas, catching a whiff of his post-heat scent—looked up when Dean strolled through the office.

“Well, well. Look who decided to show up,” Benny said. He was at Charlie’s desk, looking over the beta girl’s shoulder at something on her computer, but stood when Dean walked up. “How’s your week been goin’, brother?” he asked with a wink.

“Shut up, Benny. You don’t see me laughing at you for having ruts, do you?”

“You were in heat?” Charlie asked.

“If you could smell flower boy here you wouldn’t have to ask.”

“It’s not _that_ bad, dude.”

“Well Cas and I missed you at movie night last night,” Charlie said, “But now I totally get that you had…um. _Better things to do._ ”

“You had movie night without me?” Dean whined.

“You don’t like Order of the Phoenix anyways!”

“Still. Don’t want you guys hanging and havin’ fun when I’m at home, miserable. Is Cas here?”

“No. He and Jody are out in the field,” Benny answered.

“Ah.”

It was weird, smelling Benny and Charlie without the filter that was his suppressants. Charlie smelled lighter. Benny smelled…well, it wasn’t _unpleasant_ , but it was sort of off. It wasn’t enticing or appealing in the slightest, and Dean figured that had something to do with Benny being mated.

Bobby chose that moment to leave his office. “Dean? The hell are you doing here, boy?”

Dean cringed. “Um…leaving?”

“You’re damn right, you are. You need rest. I don’t wanna see you back in this office ‘till Monday.”

“Oh come on, Bobby. I’ll be fine to work tomorrow. I swear I’m gonna go crazy if I have to stay in that apartment one more day.”

Bobby rolled his eyes. “Fine. But you’re takin’ it easy tomorrow. Ridin’ your desk all day.”

“But—“

“Hey, you’re lucky I’m giving you this much. Now get outta here.”

Dean saluted Bobby, turning it into a wave as he backtracked out of the office.

On his way out of the building, he passed an unmated alpha. He paused, wrinkling his nose in confusion. The man’s scent had the same off-putting quality Benny’s had, but this guy definitely wasn’t mated.

At the grocery store, Dean ran into the same problem. Several times, actually. He passed a group of alphas, _all of them_ with scents that repelled him. It wasn’t mutual, if the stares he got were anything to go by.

His cashier, too, was an alpha—a nice kid, if a little shy for an alpha. But his scent was…okay, it was _pleasant._ It’s not like it made Dean want to puke or anything, but there was nothing enticing about it.

He didn’t remember much about how it was before his suppressants, but he knew it was never like this. Even Alastair, to his chagrin, smelled _somewhat_ appealing.

When he got to his car, he called Pamela’s cell. “Hey, Dr. Barnes. I’ve got a problem, I think.”

“Oh no. Are you not going into heat?”

“No—I did. It started Monday and ended last night.”

“Alright, that’s good. What’s the problem, Dean?”

“Well…aren’t alphas supposed to smell good?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Alphas don’t smell good. None of them. They smell sorta weird; I don’t know. That can’t be normal, right?”

Pamela laughed. “Oh, Dean. Tell me, sweetheart: that alpha we were talking about. Have you seen him yet?”

“No…”

“I figured as much.”

“So…what’s happening, exactly?”

“ _Well_ , theoretically, if your brain convinced the rest of your body that you already have a mate, it would make sense if other alphas didn’t smell quite right. And that could only happen if you met your true mate. So it looks like I was right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Covers eyes* Writing smut is so. unbelievably. hard. 
> 
> And did I say two more chapters? Hah, just kidding. NOW it's two more chapters.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we are all Charlie.
> 
> This is my first time breaking my "update once a week" rule! I'm so ashamed! In my defense, it's finals week. Plus, I wanted to spend extra time on this chapter. Enjoy! (This is 100% pure porn).

The following morning, Dean dumped his bag off in his office and went to bug Charlie. Knowing her, she probably wasn’t doing anything important anyways. Charlie’s modus operandi was to finish her work in under an hour then spend the rest of the day fooling around on the internet.

Sure enough, Dean found her perusing tumblr. She jumped when she sensed Dean behind her, quickly minimizing the screen.

“I wasn’t doing anything! I was…researching! Oh. _Dean!_ I almost had a heart attack, jerkface!” Charlie breathed, hand on her chest. She turned back to her computer, opening tumblr back up. “I thought you were Bobby for a minute there.”

Dean approached Charlie’s desk, shoving the keyboard to the side and sitting on the cleared space. He lazily flicked her Hermione bobble head. “Is he even here? Where the hell is everyone? It’s like a ghost town in here.”

“He’s meeting with the CIA. Bobby, Benny, and a few others went. They’ll be gone all morning.”

“They went without me?!”

Charlie cringed apologetically. “Sorry. Bobby said he wanted you here,” she explained. Then, in a terrible Bobby impression, “’Nothin’ excitin’ fer that idjit today, ya hear me Bradbury?’”

Dean snorted. “So are we the only ones here?” he asked, looking around the deserted office.

“Jody’s getting coffee; Cas is coming in but I don’t know when he’ll be here.”

“Oh,” Dean said, biting his lip, “Okay.”

“What was that?” Charlie asked, minimizing her browser and giving Dean her full attention. She watched him through narrowed eyes.

“What was what?”

“Your expression. That was your ‘I’m freaking out but I’m pretending I’m not’ expression. What’s up? Tell Momma Charlie.”

Dean made a face. “I’ll tell you if you promise never to call yourself that again. But you can’t tell _anyone_ —especially Cas—‘cause I’m kinda worried I might be wrong.”

“I promise, just tell me!” she begged. “Is it something good?”

“Uh…yeah. It really is.”

“Well then why won’t you tell me?!”

“Oh my God, calm down,” Dean groaned, passing a hand over his face. “Fine! My doctor thinks my suppressants stopped working because I met my true mate.”

“Holy shit. Dean, that’s awesome!”

“And I swear to God, Charlie, if you say ‘I told you so’—“

“Why would I say that? When have I ever said anything about you having a true mate? Do you know who it is?”

Dean raised an eyebrow.

“NO WAY!” Charlie squealed, jumping up excitedly. “It’s Castiel!!”

They both jumped like startled rabbits when a low voice behind them asked “What’s Castiel?”

Charlie put a hand over her mouth, looking between Dean and Cas with wide eyes. Her hand did a poor job of hiding the grin beneath it. “Uh…It’s you! I mean…hey! I was just excited to see you, that’s all! How’s your morning been going?”

“Um…”

Dean looked over his shoulder at the alpha standing by the door, scenting the air as subtly as he could. He frowned, finding that Cas was still too far away to scent. Damn, though, did he look good. It wasn’t some magical “all-of-a-sudden-everything-is-perfect” moment, which once again had him doubting the true mates thing. Wasn’t he supposed to just _know?_

“New suit?” Dean asked, trying to place what was so different about the alpha.

Cas looked down at himself, frowning like he’d forgotten what he was wearing. Dean smiled. “Yes, actually. Anna and I went shopping after…after she stopped by your apartment.”

“Oh. Yeah. That. Tell her thanks again.”

Cas nodded, avoiding Dean’s gaze. Dean was doing the same. “So I take it Anna’s gift was helpful?”

“Kill me now,” Dean mumbled, staring up at the ceiling.

“What gift?” Charlie asked, pouting, “I wanna be in the loop!”

“Trust me; you don’t,” Dean said, “Anyways, Cas, the suit looks nice.”

“Thank you,” Cas said, watching Dean closely. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to put my things in my office.”

“Take your time,” Dean said, watching Cas walk away. The new suit really showed off the muscles of the alpha’s back.

“Well?” Charlie asked Dean once Cas was out of earshot. “Was it love at first sight? I mean, it’s not technically _first_ sight, but it’s first sight without your suppressants…you know what I mean.”

Dean shrugged. “I dunno, Charlie. I like him with or without the true mates thing, so I don’t know if it’s that or if we really _are_ …” Dean trailed off, scenting the air curiously. Holy shit. Was that Cas’ scent? Dean barely recognized it. His eyelids fluttered shut and he took another deep breath. “Oh.” There was that magical moment he was looking for.

“Oh? ‘Oh’ _what?_ ”

“We are. Oh my God, Charlie, Cas is my mate.”

Charlie grinned and started jumping up and down. “Oh my God!” she hissed, conscious of Cas just around the corner. “This is so exciting! _I told you so_! I called this _months_ ago, you doorknob! This is so romantic! All this time, you were best friends and you had no idea! What does it feel like?”

“What does what feel like?”

“Scenting your mate for the first time, dummy!”

Dean glared at her. “It _feels like_ I want to bend over a desk and let him fuck me in the middle of the office whether you’re here or not. How’s _that_ for romantic, Charlie?”

“Oh, please don’t do that. Am I gonna have a problem? Because you’re both like twice my size. I’ll have you know I have no reservations against calling security up here if you plan on—“

“Geez, Charlie, I have _some_ self-control. We’ll make it to my apartment first, at least.”

“Oh, good. Well in that case— _Hey, Cas!_ Get out here! Dean has something he needs to tell you!”

“ _Charlie!_ ” Dean hissed. He hit her arm. “Not cool!”

“Are you guys okay?” Castiel asked, emerging from his office, “You both seem slightly… _off_.”

Dean could pinpoint the exact moment Cas picked up on his scent. The alpha halted mid-step only several feet away from them (which was still way too far, in Dean’s opinion) and his eyes went so wide Dean worried they were gonna fall out of his head or something.

Castiel stared at Dean and Dean stared back, then Charlie broke the mood by giggling. Cas glanced at her briefly, clearing his throat, then went right back to gaping at Dean.

“You smell…” he began in a strangled voice, “different.”

“Yeah.”

Cas nodded, opening his mouth to speak then immediately shutting it.

“Fuck’s sake,” Charlie groaned, “you find out you’re true mates and you _still_ try drawing it out as long as possible. Cas, Dean think you smell different too. In fact, Dean, would you like to tell Cas what you just told me?”

Dean frowned at Charlie. “What did I tell you?”

“About how Castiel’s scent makes you feel?”

This time, it was Dean’s eyes that went impossibly wide. “No!”

“What did you say?” Cas asked, tilting his head to one side and taking a few steps closer to where Dean was sitting.

Dean shifted uncomfortably, and yep, his boxers were definitely damp with slick. Geez, Cas hadn’t done anything more than _look_ at him. “Um…it wasn’t. I was just joking. Kinda. I mean…holy shit, is it hot in here?” Dean stammered, trying to change the subject. There was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and he didn’t even want to _think_ about the pit stains he was probably sporting.

Castiel’s eyes dropped to Dean’s neck. Before Dean could do more than lick his lips nervously, Cas was reaching up and loosening Dean’s tie, stepping between Dean’s parted legs to get closer. He undid the first few buttons of Dean’s shirt, letting his thumb sweep slowly against Dean’s collar bone.

“Better?” he asked in a low voice.

“Not really.”

“Now will you tell me what you said?” the alpha asked, placing a hand on either side of Dean’s hips and leaning into the omega’s space so their faces were only inches apart.

His scent was downright _intoxicating_ this close, which Dean used as an excuse for the broken whimper that made its way past his lips without permission.

“If you don’t, I will!” Charlie taunted with a bright grin, clearly enjoying this more than she should be.

“Charlie, please,” Cas said, straightening up and leaving Dean reeling at the sudden loss of the alpha’s scent and warmth. “Dean doesn’t need your help telling me when he’s perfectly capable of doing so himself,” Cas finished with a smirk, never taking his eyes off Dean’s.

Dean swallowed audibly.

“ _Dean,_ ” Castiel growled, his voice a command. “Tell me.”

“Um. Well…I might’ve said something along the lines of wanting you to bend me over a desk and fuck me senseless…to paraphrase.”

Dean didn’t know what Cas was expecting him to say, but that clearly wasn’t it. The alpha’s eyes dropped to Dean’s lips.

“That can be arranged,” he growled, finally closing the last few inches to capture Dean’s lips in a rough kiss. Dean made a surprised sound at the back of his throat but immediately leaned into the kiss, reaching a hand up and tangling it in Castiel’s hair.

Holy shit, he’d never had a kiss like this in his life. Dean normally wasn’t one for clichés, but now he got what people meant when they talked about “fireworks.” Cas was much more confident than he’d been during their last kiss, as well as much more forceful. He was completely in charge and he was making sure Dean knew it.

Cas gripped the omega’s hips and easily hauled Dean to the edge of the desk, then trailing his hands down to the back of Dean’s thighs, lifting the omega’s legs so they were wrapped around his hips. With the new angle, Dean felt a rush of slick leave his body and he groaned into the kiss.

“ _Hey!_ ” Charlie snapped for the twentieth time, grabbing the first thing she saw (which happened to be her fly swatter) and hitting Cas on the back of the head with it.

Cas pulled away from Dean with a sound that was dangerously close to a snarl before coming to his senses. “Did you just… _fly swat_ me?” he asked with a confused frown.

“Well I wouldn’t have _had to_ if you’d just listened to me the first time! Look, I’m happy for you two, obviously, but no doing the frickle frackle in the office, kay? Go get your things, and I’m calling you a cab, since I honestly doubt either of you are capable of driving right now.”

Cas narrowed his eyes at Charlie, then planted a quick kiss on Dean’s forehead. “I’ll be right back. Do you want me to grab your bag for you?”

“Yes, please.”

 

Cas stopped at Dean’s office first, grabbing the bag Dean had unceremoniously dumped onto the ground.

He was tempted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Had he really just kissed Dean in the middle of the office? And Dean’s scent…he thought Dean smelled good _before_ he went off the suppressants. The omega’s scent was much healthier now—cleaner, fresher, sweeter. It was also roughly 6000 times more enticing.

So they really were true mates. Dean mentioned something to that extent during his heat, but Cas hadn’t had a clue what he meant. He was a little annoyed that Dean must’ve known and hadn’t told him sooner, but given everything the omega had to deal with over the past few weeks, Castiel figured he could forgive Dean.

When he returned to Dean and Charlie, Dean’s scent seemed even more mesmerizing. It was certainly stronger than it had been minutes ago.

Dean was always beautiful, but today, everything about the omega’s beauty seemed amplified. His eyes were greener than Cas had ever seen them, lined with a dark forest green and dappled with golden flecks. Castiel didn’t think Dean’s lips had ever been so pink and full. Even his freckles were more pronounced.

He was about to kiss Dean again when Charlie stepped between them, holding up her arms to shield herself. “No! No more! Cab’s gonna be here any minute. Go enjoy each other’s company from the privacy of your own homes and leave me to waste my time on tumblr in peace.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, yeah. We’re leaving, Charlie,” he said, jumping up and grabbing the hand Cas held out to him.

 

In the elevator, Cas backed Dean into a corner and attacked the omega’s neck, biting and sucking marks into the tan skin. Dean arched into him, head falling back against the elevator wall with a thud. Cas breathed in Dean’s scent then pulled away with a frown. “Your scent’s getting stronger.”

“Hmm?” Dean asked, looking up at Cas through half-lidded eyes.

Cas hummed and kissed Dean. Dean was sweaty, and Cas could easily smell how wet the omega was getting. “If I didn’t know better…I’d say you were going into heat.”

Dean frowned. Cas waited patiently as the omega worked through what he just said, raising an eyebrow when Dean groaned and shoved Cas away half-heartedly, immediately pulling him close again.

“You _asshole_ ,” Dean groaned, “You trigged it.”

“Really? You’re going into heat?” Cas asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah,” Dean breathed. Suddenly, he ducked and wormed his way out of Castiel’s arms. He backed up to the other end of the elevator, smirking at the confused alpha. “You know…It’s too bad you have that ‘no heat sex’ rule, man. I guess we might as well go back upstairs and _oomph_ —“ Dean broke off when Castiel shoved him against the elevator doors.

“Fuck that. We’ve both waited long enough,” Cas growled, claiming Dean’s mouth in a rough kiss. The omega tasted bitter and sweet all at once, perfect and pure. There was the lingering taste of coffee, but it was mostly just _Dean,_ and Cas knew he could easily get addicted to the taste.

He pulled Dean away from the doors when they slid open, practically dragging the omega out of the elevator, through the foyer, and into the waiting cab.

The cab driver raised an eyebrow when they slid into the backseat, clearly taking in their disheveled appearances and jumping to conclusions (conclusions which would most likely be accurate, in this case). Cas sniffed the air, pleased to find the driver was a beta. He didn’t want any alphas near Dean when Dean smelled so good. “Where to?”

Dean started to give his address but Cas cut him off, giving his own address instead.

“But your place is farther,” Dean whined.

“My house.” Cas mouthed at Dean’s jaw and sucking a mark into his skin. “ _My bed_.”

Dean moaned, arching into Castiel’s mouth like a cat in heat.

“Hey! No sex in my cab!”

“My apologies,” Cas mumbled, scooting away from Dean. He tangled his fingers between Dean’s and gave the omega’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Then came the longest car ride of Castiel’s life.

He and Dean didn’t stay separated for long. In fact, Dean was practically sitting in Cas’ lap by the end of the ride. They did, however, have to limit the contact to light kisses and PG-13 level touches. Cas wasn’t sure how Dean was managing this. He was barely able to handle the distance himself, and he wasn’t the one going into heat for the second time in a week.

Cas had been rock hard since the elevator, and the lack of relief was driving him insane.

Cas had a feeling the cab driver understand the urgency and drove faster than was strictly legal, but with Dean’s scent getting sweeter by the minute and with them being _so close_ to finally mating but being unable to do so, it felt like hours had passed before the cab finally pulled into Castiel’s driveway.

He practically threw the money at the driver before following Dean out of the cab.

While Cas was fumbling with the front door key, Dean plastered himself against the alpha’s side and started kissing every inch of skin available to him.

Once they were inside, Castiel slammed the door shut and shoved Dean against the nearest wall, slotting a leg between the omega’s thighs. He used the position to grind slowly against Dean’s erection, making Dean gasp and tighten his grip on Castiel’s suit jacket. Speaking of…

“Clothing off,” he ordered.

Dean moved quickly to do as Castiel said, but the alpha ended up batting his hands away, wanting to do the job himself. He pushed Dean’s jacket off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor then took off his own jacket and undid his tie while Dean stepped out of his shoes.

Cas started unbuttoning Dean’s shirt. He’d only undone two or three buttons before he got impatient and tore the shirt open, sending buttons flying.

“Hey!” Dean said, “I’ve only got like three good shirts!”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Cas promised, dipping his head to suck at Dean’s pulse point. Dean tilted his head back, baring his neck to Castiel, knowing Cas was making a mark that anyone was gonna be able to see for a week to come.

“ _Cas,_ ” Dean breathed, wrapping his arms around the alpha’s shoulders and pulling Cas back up to him for a filthy kiss. Cas licked into Dean’s mouth, their teeth clacking together in their borderline-violent fervor.

Dean, desperate for some sort of friction, ground his hips against Castiel’s, making them both moan.

Then Castiel’s lips were on Dean’s again, hungrily pinning him down. Cas moaned into the kiss. Dean—his scent, his lips, his taste, the delicious sounds he made—was perfect.

Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel, blunt nails scratching down the hard lines of Castiel’s back. Cas growled in response and reached around to cup Dean’s ass, using his grip to grind their hips together again.

Dean pushed Cas away, looking completely debauched—half-undressed, hair a mess, lips pink and swollen, skin flushed and marks beginning to form on his neck and upper chest from where Cas had gotten a little enthusiastic. Cas loved that _he_ was the one that made Dean look like this.

“Can we…” Dean panted, eyes never lifting from where they were fixed on Cas’ lips. “Upstairs?”

Cas just nodded, holding his hand out to Dean.

When they reached the upstairs landing, Cas pushed Dean against the wall once more. He hoisted the omega up so his legs were wrapped around his waist, and this time, when he rolled his hips forward, Dean let out a broken whimper that was quickly followed by a string of profanities.

“Fuck. Cas,” Dean said, fingers tugging almost painfully at Castiel’s hair, “Come on, alpha, you should’ve been fucking me five minutes ago.”

“Don’t rush me,” Cas said, nipping at Dean’s jaw before carrying him all the way to the bedroom.

He dropped Dean onto the bed. Taking a moment to appreciate the way Dean looked spread out on his mattress and wondering what he did to deserve such a beautiful creature, Cas slowly started running his hands up Dean’s bowed legs.

“I can’t tell you how many times imagined you like this, Dean—these legs of yours, spread and just _begging_ for me to be settled between them,” he said. As he spoke, he crawled so he was hovering above Dean, perched between the very legs he was describing. Pinning the omega’s arms above his head, he admired Dean from this new position.

Cas leaned forward slowly, pulling back when Dean tried to kiss him, and breathed the next part against Dean’s lips, “Your lips, crying out my name as my knot fills you with my come and my teeth sink into your skin.” Cas nosed at Dean’s throat, transferring Dean’s wrists into one hand. Tangling his free hand in the omega’s hair, he forced Dean’s head back for better access.

He felt Dean try to tug his arms free, testing how securely Cas was holding him. Dean whined when his wrists wouldn’t budge.

“Cas, come on,” Dean begged, trying to arch up into Castiel for some sort of contact.

“No,” Cas said, looking down into Dean’s wide green eyes. “I’m not going to rush this.”

Now that he had Dean in his bed, he saw no reason to rush. He didn’t want his first time with the love of his life—his _true mate—_ to be like the frenzied, mindless blur that had gotten them from the front door to the bed.

He bent down to place a chaste kiss on Dean’s lips. “I love you.”

A shudder wracked through Dean’s body and he started squirming even more than before. “I love you too, Cas. Now _please—_ “

“I like hearing you beg,” Cas said, kissing every inch of Dean’s face he could reach. “My tough, stubborn, bossy little omega. Always in control.” He pulled back so he could study Dean’s face. “You’re not in control now. Is that okay, Dean? Can you surrender to me for this?”

Dean took a deep breath and bit his lip. He nodded. “Yes.”

“Good,” Cas cooed, kissing Dean. Dean’s submission was almost a tangible thing—he let Cas completely control the kiss, he no longer squirmed or tried to free his arms. “That’s a good omega. Keep your arms still, Dean.”

Cas let go of Dean’s wrists so he could trail kisses down the omega’s body. He stopped to suck on a nipple, rolling it lightly between his teeth, and Dean let out a downright pornographic moan at the touch.

Castiel’s trail of kisses stopped at Dean’s belt.

“These have to go,” he hummed, undoing Dean’s belt buckle and tugging the black slacks off. Dean’s hips rocked forward of their own accord, searching for some sort of relief. Cas gave it to him, mouthing at the tent in Dean’s boxers.

“Oh, fuck. Cas. Oh my God,” Dean groaned. “Please. Stop teasing.”

“Since you asked so nicely,” Cas chuckled, unbuttoning and taking off his own shirt before he removed Dean’s boxers. “You are so beautiful, Dean,” he said before he took Dean’s cock into his mouth.

“ _Shit._ ” Dean threw his head back with a breathy moan, obviously struggling to keep his arms in place. Cas manipulated one of Dean’s legs so it was resting on his shoulder and lifted his mouth to suck a mark into Dean’s inner thigh.

Dean was panting now, his hips rocking in tiny, aborted movements.

Cas stroked Dean’s erection a few times before trailing his hand lower, skimming lightly over Dean’s balls before dropping further to circle Dean’s hole. He groaned into Dean’s thigh when he felt how wet the omega was.

Dean let out an embarrassingly high-pitched whimper when Cas started trailing his fingers lower.

He had no idea it could feel like this. It never felt this good when he touched himself, suppressants or no suppressants, heat or no heat. And Cas wasn’t even inside him yet.

His alpha’s scent was all around, going straight to his head and making him dizzy with need.

He tried to push back onto Castiel’s finger, make the alpha do more than just rub light, teasing circles into the muscles of Dean’s ass, but Cas saw it coming and pulled his fingers away.

“So impatient,” Cas breathed into Dean’s skin, “So needy. You’re dripping with it, Dean, with how badly you want my knot.”

Dean whined, feeling more slick leak out of him—whether it was Cas’ words, the pet name, the growl in Castiel’s voice, or a combination of all three that caused it was anybody’s guess. On top of all that, Cas was watching him with a predatory gleam in his eye, making Dean the meal to be played with, and damned if it wasn’t the hottest thing.

“I won’t make you wait anymore, Dean. Present for me.”

Dean almost ended up kicking Cas in the head in his haste to obey. He rolled onto his hands and knees, back bowed and ass in the air, shamelessly presenting for his alpha. He never thought he’d be here, in this position, but now that he was he had no regrets. It was probably the hottest moment of his life, especially when Cas swore under his breath and started kneading Dean’s ass.

He spread Dean open, leaving Dean’s slick hole completely exposed. Cas circled the rim lightly with a finger, and Dean opened his mouth to complain about Cas “not making him wait” when Castiel’s tongue replaced his finger and all coherent thought flew from Dean’s mind.

“ _Ohhh holy shit,_ ” is what came out instead.

When Castiel’s hot, wet tongue swept over Dean’s inner thighs, licking up excess slick, Dean arched into it and moaned like a cheap whore—something he seemed to be doing a lot of today. He spread his knees farther apart, trying to entice Cas into giving him more.

Dean yelped when Castiel’s tongue pushed in, Castiel moaning at the taste and the vibration of the sound making Dean shudder, his arms buckling beneath him.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows, moaning when Cas slipped a finger alongside his tongue.

“Fuck. Cas, please. Pease fuck me, alpha. Castiel. Can’t wait,” Dean babbled, canting his hips back.

Cas moaned, withdrawing so he could look at Dean, and slipped a second finger in when Dean whined at the loss. Dean was trembling beneath him at this point, moaning and swearing intermittently.

“I love the sounds you make, Dean,” Cas hummed. With one hand, he kept scissoring Dean open, and with the other he fumbled with his belt. How was he still wearing pants? Oh, that’s right. He’d gotten distracted by Dean’s slick. And Dean’s mouth. And the way Dean squirmed and gasped when Cas found a sensitive spot on his body.

Sometime, Cas promised himself, he would make Dean fall apart with just his tongue. See how crazy he could drive the omega before he begged for Castiel’s knot, before he lost the ability to speak because the pleasure was so intense.

That wasn’t for now, though. Even Cas had a teasing limit, and he’d waited long enough for this.

He slipped his fingers out, shushing Dean and kissing the dimples at the small of the omega’s back when Dean growled in protest. Kissing up Dean’s back, Castiel breathed more praise into Dean’s skin. “You are _so_ beautiful, Dean. Absolutely perfect. And you’re being so patient. Do you want my knot, baby?”

Dean practically sobbed with relief when Cas draped his weight over Dean’s back. “God, yes.”

“Tell me how much you want it,” Cas said, lining up the head with Dean’s entrance but not quite pushing in.

“ _Cas,_ ” Dean whined. “Need it. Want you to fuck me, Cas, please. Need your knot—“

Cas grabbed Dean’s chin, making the omega turn his head so they were looking at each other. “I want to see your face when I enter you.”

Dean shivered, nodding frantically. Anything that would get Cas inside of him faster.

Cas started pushing in, and Dean panted through it, his mouth falling open and his eyes falling shut as he was completely filled. Castiel thought that Dean had never been so beautiful as he was in that moment.

" _Fuck,_ Dean. You have no idea how good you feel. You're so tight, sweetheart."

Dean opened his eyes to find Castiel's blue ones fixated on him. "Cas, you can move. C'mon. Please."

He was surprised he was able to communicate that much. This was so much better than he’d ever imagined and Cas was so _big_ and _hot_ inside of him and he felt like he couldn't possibly be stretched any wider even though he knew Castiel's knot hadn't even expanded yet.

Cas groaned, pulling Dean in for a final sloppy kiss before he straightened up and started rocking his hips, slow at first but quickly gaining speed until Cas was pounding into Dean so hard that the bed rocked and the headboard slammed against the wall with every thrust.

Dean couldn’t speak at this point. There were no thoughts in his head, none besides how _incredible_ it felt to have Castiel inside of him, to feel the alpha gripping his hips so hard he knew there were going to be bruises. He had no dignity left to save at this point, so there was nothing to stop the tiny, broken moans that escaped his lips with every thrust of his alpha’s hips.

Dean had been on edge since the first swipe of Castiel’s tongue, and right now he was so close to bliss that he could hardly breathe. He reached down to stroke himself, to try to relieve some of the pressure, but Cas batted his hand away, draping his weight against Dean’s back and pinning Dean’s hands above his head again.

The new angle had Dean openly whimpering, bringing him closer to the edge than he ever thought you could get without going over it.

“You’re going to come on just my knot, Dean,” Cas growled into Dean’s ear. “Do you think you can do that?”

Dean nodded frantically, rocking back into the alpha’s increasingly erratic thrusts.

“It’s starting to swell now. Do you feel it, Dean?”

“Yeah,” Dean managed in a breathy voice, “’S so good. Cas, fuck, you’re so good. C’mon alpha, give it to me.”

Cas growled again, nipping at Dean’s earlobe and slamming into him harder. “Come for me _now,_ Dean,” he ordered.

Dean did. His breath was knocked out of him with the force of it, and he was pretty sure he blacked out for a minute because the next thing he knew Cas’ knot was locked inside of him and the alpha was coming, his teeth sinking into the spot where Dean’s neck meets his shoulder.

Dean moaned, collapsing on the bed as his legs completely gave out beneath him, and Cas followed.

They lay like that for a minute, trying to catch their breath, until eventually Cas rolled them so they were on their sides, Dean cradled against his chest. He kissed the mating mark he made—and every other inch of skin that was available to him.

“Holy shit,” he eventually said, his already-low voice rough and fucked out.

Dean let out a surprised laugh. “Tell me 'bout it. If I’d known it would be like that, I would’a mated years ago,” he slurred.

Cas chuckled. “Well then I’m glad you didn’t know.”

Dean twisted his torso, turning so he could plant a light kiss on the corner of Castiel’s mouth. “Yeah, I’ll bet you are. So…that was good for you too, right?”

“I can't believe you even have to ask,” Cas said. "It was  _incredible._ You're wonderful."

Dean hummed. “Everyone at the office is gonna freak. If Charlie hasn’t already told them."

“Ha!” Cas said loudly, making Dean flinch away from him in annoyance. “I proved Benny wrong!”

“Wrong about what?”

“When I first started working for the OPA, Benny warned me against falling in love with you. He basically said I didn't stand a chance."

“He said that? Seriously? Geez, I’m glad you didn’t listen to him.”

“I didn’t exactly have a choice. You’re just too lovable, Dean,” Cas teased, kissing the back of Dean’s neck. “Are you worried about what this is going to mean? For work?”

“Nah,” Dean shrugged. “So I won’t be able to do as much undercover stuff. It’s a sacrifice I’m totally okay with making if it means I get this,” he said, snuggling back against Cas.

Cas hummed in agreement, tightening his arms around his omega and breathing in his mate’s scent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was officially the filthiest thing I've ever written. 
> 
> This was (sort of) the last chapter! I hope everyone's enjoyed this story; I had A LOT of fun with it. I do plan on posting an epilogue next week (same time), but for now I've marked it as complete. Thank you all for sticking with it this far, and be sure to let me know what you thought!


	19. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

** -Two Years Later- **

Dean slipped back into the room, nodding apologetically at the retreat director, who sent a scowl his way for interrupting her session. She didn’t like Dean much, he learned over the past few days. Or maybe it was just that she didn’t like omegas. It didn’t matter to him; he didn’t like her either.

When Dean sat beside him, Cas wrapped an arm around the back of Dean’s chair, never once looking away from Director Saunderson.

“Are you alright?” he leaned over to whisper.

Dean nodded, pretending to listen as the Group Therapist took over, immediately launching into some speech about ‘communication being key to healthy relationship.”

“Kinda,” he whisper, “Got a call from Bobby. We’re good to go whenever.”

“Good.”

“Oh, and I threw up in the trash can outside.”

Cas growled, finally looking at Dean. “I _told you_ you were too sick to do this. We should just go.”

“No,” Dean said, shaking his head, “I’m not sick. Sides, I haven’t suffered through a day and a half of this for nothing.”

“Fine,” Cas said, setting back to listen to the therapist, “She’s saying the omega needs to listen to the alpha; maybe you should pay attention.”

Dean snorted, mumbling something about “sexist, bullshit double standards” under his breath. Cas chuckled.

They were at some overly-uptight, conservative “Couples Therapy Retreat” for mated alpha/omega couples with issues, which was exactly as terrible as it sounded. It was basically just two days of reinforcing negative gender roles and representing the worst of humanity.

He wasn’t gonna lie; the couple bonding activities themselves weren’t completely terrible. They were actually— dare he say it— _fun_ , but he would never in a million years tell anyone how much he enjoyed playing “The Newlymated Game” with Cas. Nah, that was something he wouldn’t even tell Cas, though he had the feeling the alpha knew.

The other group activities, though, had him ready to shoot someone. The couples drove him crazy—the omegas were like sheep and the alphas were total knotheads. The director was psycho and sexist, to say the least, and the Counselor was a million year old alpha with a voice that put Dean to sleep.

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to him.

“Dean,” Cas said, nudging Dean with his elbow. “Are you listening?”

“Huh?”

“Saunderson just dismissed us—something about giving us some ‘alone time’ before lunch. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Super.”

Cas nodded, standing and holding his hand out to Dean. “We won’t have to be here much longer, thankfully. Bobby gave us the good to go?”

“Yep. Let’s get this bitch before she goes all Stepford Wives on our asses.”

They found Director Saunderson in the hallway speaking to one of the other campers (a real tool and the biggest asshole at the retreat, in Dean’s opinion).

“Castiel, Dean,” the director said through pursed lips when she saw them approaching, “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Save it,” Dean said, showing her his badge, “Christine Saunderson, you’re under arrest for fraud, perjury, and kidnapping.”

While Cas was putting handcuffs on Saunderson, Dean glared at the alpha she’d been talking to. “We’re coming for you next, buddy.”

“No, we’re not,” Cas assured the confused man. “Although, if you don’t learn to treat your mate with respect, he may be right.”

“Damn straight.”

Outside, two other agents took Saunderson off their hands and Bobby approached, giving Dean a pat on the back.

“Nice work, boys. As always. Sorry it took so long for the warrant to come through; couldn’t have done it without you in there, though,” he said, passing by them and heading into the hotel that was hosting the retreat.

“Well that was fun,” Dean said to Cas when Bobby was gone, “Let’s never do that again, kay?”

“I don’t know; there were parts of it that weren’t so bad. Something like this could be nice, on occasion, for a sort of break from work.”

“Cas, you want a break and we can go on vacation or something. You know, something that’s actually _fun_ and _relaxing._ Unless this is your way of hinting that we actually need couple’s therapy,” Dean teased.

Cas chuckled, pulling Dean in for a kiss. “Don’t be absurd.”

Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel’s neck with a content hum and leaned into the kiss. “Mmm. I love you.”

“I love you too. Back to the office?”

“For you, yes. Could you maybe head back with Bobby?” Dean asked, kissing the confused frown off his mate’s face. “I’ve got some errands to run. I’ll pick you up at the end of the day, though, kay?”

“What kind of errands?”

“Uh, the boring kind. And, you know, anniversary stuff. Secret anniversary stuff.”

“I see. Well, just make sure you’re not late picking me up—we have to get ready for the party. Ellen said she wanted us there early and we also have to pick your parents up at the airport, remember?”

“I thought Sam was doing that.”

“He called and said he couldn’t. I don’t remember why. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Uh, you might’ve. I don’t remember. Anyways, I won’t be late. See you in a few hours,” Dean said, giving Cas a final kiss goodbye.

He wasn’t errands, not really. He didn’t want to tell Cas what he was actually doing. He knew Cas would only worry, and at this point there wasn’t any reason to think he might need to.

Dean had a check-up with Pamela earlier that week (something he’d been doing regularly for two years now). Right before the retreat thing started, he got a call from Dr. Barnes asking him to come in.

She didn’t make it sound like it was anything worrisome, but as he sat in the doctor’s office waiting for her to come in, he couldn’t help freaking out a little. Maybe he should’ve told Cas, if just for moral support.

There was a knock on the door.

“Dean Winchester,” Pamela said in lieu of a hello, leaning against the doorframe with a sly smile, “Do you believe in miracles?”

.

.

Dean was late. Bobby sent everyone home a little early seeing as half the office was invited to Dean and Castiel’s anniversary party later that evening, and Cas was the last one in the office, worrying that he was going to be late for his own anniversary party because his mate was “running errands.”

Cas called Dean. “Dean—“

“I am so, _so_ sorry, Cas. I’m almost done here, promise. I’ll be able to pick you up in like—“

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take a cab.”

Dean whined. “Trust me, this wait is definitely gonna be worth it. I have news I think you’re gonna like. But I promise I’ll make it up to you, kay? I’m talking sex. Any way you want it, baby; I’m yours”

Cas smiled to himself, slightly appeased more than a little curious about what Dean was doing that was so important. “Well in that case, I might not mind arriving late to the party.”

“Thought you might say that,” Dean laughed. “I’ll be home in an hour tops.”

“Alright. If you’re not, _you’re_ the one that’s going to have to deal with Ellen, not me _And_ your mother. I’m sure Mary won’t like waiting at the airport longer than necessary.”

“Eh, worst case scenario they have to take a cab. They’ll live. I gotta go—see you in a bit.”

Castiel took the cab home and made himself a quick PB&J sandwich to tide him over. While he ate, their cat harassed him, throwing herself against Castiel’s legs and meowing loudly. He scooped the furry nuisance into his arms, scratching her head fondly. It may not be a large family, theirs, but it was a happy one.

Two years ago, when he and Dean got together, he didn’t think it was possible to love the omega any more. He was wrong. He loved Dean more and more with every day and nothing else mattered.

They’d talked about adoption. Claire—the cat—was, in a sense, their way of testing how well they could take care of a living thing while keeping their jobs. Granted, a cat was a long way off from a child, but they were a year in and hadn’t killed her yet. She was a little fatter than was probably healthy, though.

It wasn’t until he was in the shower that Dean finally joined him, the omega stripping and stepping into the shower without a word.

He pushed Cas against the shower wall and kissed the life out of him. He then started placing light kisses on every inch of Castiel’s face, his hands moving playfully over the alpha’s torso.

“Hey,” he hummed, pulling away with a bright grin.

“Hi,” Cas said with an equally wide smile, Dean’s apparent excitement contagious. “You seem happy.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Oh? On the phone, you said you have news,” Cas said, reaching up to adjust the shower head so the water wasn’t streaming right into their eyes.

Dean’s grin grew, if possible, even wider. “Yep. I’m not sick. I’m the opposite, in fact.”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “Really? So your ‘errands’ were, what, at the doctor’s?”

“Yep.”

Cas waited for Dean to explain, but the omega apparently had no intention of doing so. Without another word, Dean slipped out of the shower. “I’ll be in the bedroom when you’re done.”

“Did you really join me in the shower just to confuse me?” Castiel called after him.

Dean chuckled. “You’re smart, Cas. You can figure it out. Think about it.”

Cas thought about it, rinsing his hair one last time before finishing up.

Dean went to the doctor. Dean went to the doctor without telling Cas about it. He’d been sick lately—feeling nauseous, getting headaches, not eating—but Dean just said he wasn’t sick.

Cas turned the water off.

Dean said he was the opposite of sick.

The realization hit Cas as he was climbing out of the shower, almost making him trip and end up sprawled face-first on the tile floor. He hastily toweled himself dry, or as close to dry as he would take the time to get, and wrapped the towel around his waist before hurrying to find Dean.

Dean was sprawled out on their bed in nothing but a pair of boxers, looking at something on his phone with a smile.

“Dean,” Cas said, pausing in the doorway. “Tell me why you were at the doctor.”

“Okay,” Dean said, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. “Well at my appointment, Pamela noticed something and had some tests done…”

“And?” Cas asked. Approaching Dean, Cas knelt on the ground in front of Dean and put a reassuring hand on the omega’s knee. “What kind of tests?”

Dean grinned. “Well it looks like we’re not gonna have to adopt after all.”

“I was hoping that’s what you were going to say,” Cas said, surging up to kiss his mate and pushing Dean back onto the bed with the force of it.

“How?” he asked between kisses.

Dean laughed against Castiel’s lips. “Well if you’re—“ another kiss, “—kissing me, I can’t exactly answer.”

“Later, then,” Cas mumbled as he climbed onto the bed so he was hovering above Dean.

“I called Jess—she’s picking up my parents.”

“Good call. I think we’re going to be a little late to the party after all.”

.

.

“Really, boys?” Ellen asked when Cas and Dean finally showed up at the Roadhouse. “Showing up fashionably late to your own party?”

“Sorry, Ellen,” Dean said sheepishly, kissing the woman’s cheek. “Something important came up.”

“By which he means they were having sex,” Jo said, rolling her eyes and stepping up to hug first Dean then Cas. “You guys aren’t fooling anyone.”

“We weren’t trying to,” Dean shrugged.

Mary and John Winchester were the next to greet the couple, offering congratulations.

Everyone was there to celebrate the couple’s second year together. All of Dean’s family—Sam, Jess, Mary, John, Bobby, Ellen, Jo—and Castiel’s family—Gabriel and Kali, Anna and Alek (and their year-old daughter Sara), Luke, and hell, even Naomi. Benny and Andrea (and their twins) and Charlie and her new(ish) mate Gilda made it as well.

Ellen gave Dean a knowing look and a tight hug when he refused the beer she offered him while Cas looked on with a smile.

She and Jo made food for everyone, Gabriel brought desserts, and Sam, Charlie, and Jess handled the decorations.

At some point later in the evening, after dinner was served and almost everyone was at least a little tipsy, somebody decided there should be toasts. Bobby, the drunkest of them all, insisted on being the one to start and gave a semi-coherent speech that somehow ended up with him talking about the time he caught Dean and Cas having sex in the gym at three in the morning, much to Dean and Castiel’s chagrin.

Sam went next, giving a heart-warming toast about how much Dean and Castiel mean to him. He talked about how much they supported him and Jess during their first years at Chicago Law and how much they helped him make a home in Chicago. Dean was a little more affected by the speech than he’d like to admit. He blamed it on the hormones.

Actually, it was John that gave the most emotional speech of the night. He thanked Castiel—if it weren’t for Cas and the advice he gave Dean, he said without going into detail, he never would have been reunited with his son. He talked about how perfect Dean and Castiel were together, thanking them for letting him be a part of their family, and ended up making pretty much everyone in the Roadhouse shed a tear or two (Or, in Mary’s case, a thousand).

Charlie finished it on a light note.

“I would like to begin my toast by once again saying to Dean ‘I told you so,’” she said, making a few people chuckle. “I always knew Dean and Cas would end up together. Benny and I had a bet going—oh. I guess I never told you guys about that. Don’t look at me like that, Dean; Benny was the one betting against you. Anyways, a couple months into their friendship—and by this point, everyone at the office was one hundred percent sick of them constantly undressing each other with their eyes when the rest of us were trying to get work done—I talked to Dean about it and he freaked. Even then, though, his Sears-tower-sized crush on Cas was _obvious._ After that talk we went and watched about ten episodes of Dr. Sexy. If Dean ever tries to convince any of you that he doesn’t like that show, it’s a total lie.”

Dean made a face, shoving Sam playfully when his brother laughed so hard he looked like he was about to start crying. “It’s not funny. It’s a good show, dude.”

Charlie beamed at them. “I was actually there when they first got together. I had to kick them out of the office and call them a cab, they were so infatuated with each other. My point is, you guys obviously love each other so much. Anyone who looks at you can see it in an instant, and it’s the greatest thing. I’m so happy for both of you.”

At the end of the night, when most people were getting ready to leave—Cas stood, looking at Dean for permission. Dean nodded.

“I wanted to thank everyone for coming tonight, and special thanks to everyone who helped set this up and to the Winchesters for flying in from Kansas to visit. You’re all here because you’re the most important people in the world to Dean and me. Obviously, there have been ups and downs in our relationship—in fact, our very first meeting was during a case and we got into a fist fight before we even knew each other’s names—“

“In my defense, I thought you were a Russian mobster,” Dean said with a grin when the laughter died down.

“It was an honest mistake,” Cas smiled. “My point is that despite how strangely our relationship has progressed, I love Dean with all of my heart and I have since we met, and I’m so glad there are so many of you that have supported our relationship since the beginning, annoying as we may have been to put up with at times. You’re our family, and Dean and I have an announcement to make: in just a few months, this family is going to be just a little bit bigger, and I’m happy knowing you’ll all be here to support us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading! If you enjoyed reading, please [Buy Me A Coffee on Ko-Fi!](http://ko-fi.com/anaphiel)


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